


I Know It's Not Much

by TwicetheTrouble



Series: Merstuck [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Albino Kankri Vantas, Albino Karkat Vantas, For reasons, Gen, Human-ish AU, Kankri needs a break, Light-Hearted, Lots of merpeople, Makara's and Pyrope's are one family, Merjohn, Merstuck, Rated for Karkat's Language, almost everyone does actually, enjoy it while it lasts, gets serious later on, karkat acting cute when no one's looking, odd family relations, pixies' and Ampora's as well, vantas boys have difficult past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2018-11-05 01:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 66,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwicetheTrouble/pseuds/TwicetheTrouble
Summary: At age 12, Karkat and his older brother, Kankri, are finally moving back into their old family home. It is at a nearby dock that Karkat meets a Merman named John, who is more than eager to make friends with the lonely boy. Unfortunately for him, Karkat's more than a little reluctant to make friends with a mythical creature.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, here's a new story I'm working on that I thought was turning out really well. I'm not exactly sure why but I'm absolutely loving it. Anyways, it's a bit of an odd story, expecially once it turns more serious, but I've got most of it planned out right to the end. And if I can actually pull off finishing this fic, then I might even have a small companion story that focuses more on Kankri than Karkat. But we'll see how this one turns out first.  
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL
> 
> ps. I had posted this on Fanfiction.net but decided to move it here instead. I like it better here :)

“Well, Karkat, here it is,” Kankri announced from the driver’s seat.

I looked up from my phone to catch my brother smiling at me before focusing on pulling the car into the driveway. I watched him a moment longer, a bit confused about how relaxed he was. He hadn’t even parked the car and he already looked like he was at home here. I shrugged, chucking it up to my brother’s oddities, before turning my focus to the house we were parking in front of.

It was pretty small, just a single level house that didn’t look much better than a trailer. Regardless of size, the place looked like it had been neglected for years. The grass in the yard looked like you would need a fucking scythe just to cut it down short enough to mow. If there was a garden somewhere in there, it had been overrun long ago. The olive green siding looked dull and chipped, and there were several shingles hanging loose on the roof.

“ _This_ is our new house?” I asked incredulously. Kankri chuckled as I studied roof. _Why are there leaves coming out of our gutter? Wait, is that a tree?!_

“I know; it does seem a little underwhelming at first glance. But it has been vacant for a long time. One must expect somethings to be in need of repair.” He put the car in park as I crossed my arms. He turned to me only to get fitted with one of my famous I’m-tired-of-your-shit glairs.

“Kankri. There’s a fucking tree growing out of our gutter,” I stated flatly.

“Please do watch your language, Karkat. You know that I don’t-“

“A tree! And not one of those two inch saplings that appear everywhere in the spring only to disappear a month later. No, a full-fledged TREE! It’s made itself home in our filthy gutter system, proudly looking down at all the other trees who did things the right way, deciding to use the fucking ground!”

“Are you done?” Kankri asked, after waiting a few seconds to make sure I wasn’t going to continue.

“Why do we have to live here again?" I asked, giving my brother the best pair of puppy dog eyes I could muster. “Why couldn’t we have stayed at your apartment? I liked it there.”

“You hated it there,” Kankri pointed out simply. Apparently my childhood puppy dog eyes didn’t work quite as well coming from an awkward twelve-year-old. “If I remember correctly you said that, and I quote ‘it’s too small, the walls’ too thin, and the hall always smells like ass.’”

“Well, at least it didn’t have a tree growing out of the gutter.”

“Just give it a chance, Karkat. All that you see here can be fixed up without much of a problem.” He shot me another smile as he finally turned off the car. “After all, this was our family home. It deserves some respect for that, at least.”

“It was _your_ family home,” I muttered, getting only a sigh in response.

“Come on. Let’s go check out the interior. You might like it better.”

Kankri hopped out of the car and made his way towards the house as I turned my attention back to my phone.

 

 **CarcinoGeneticist:** DAMN IT. I HAVE TO GO. MY BROTHER WANTS TO SHOW OFF THIS USELESS FUCKING DISASTER OF A HOUSE. THERE WILL BE NO STOPPING HIM NOW.

 **TerminallyCapricious:** SoUnDs lIkE a MoThErFuCkEn aDvEnTuRe kArBrO. WiSh I wAs tHeRe :o)

 **CarcinoGeneticist:** NO YOU FUCKING DO NOT!

 **TerminallyCapricious:** HaVe fUn mOtHeRfUcKeN BeStBrO

 **CarcinoGeneticist:** NO.

 

I sighed as I looked up to see my brother now standing in front of the door, motioning for me to follow. I rolled my eyes, but put the phone away regardless and climbed out of the car. Kankri smiled and disappeared into the house. I followed slowly after him, making sure to flick off the fucking gutter tree as I passed.

“Kankri, I swear if I see the roots of that cheating tree coming through the ceiling, I’m going to walk out and live in the car,” I said as I walked through the door.

I paused in the doorway, looking around at the interior I was honestly surprised. Judging from the outside, I was expecting broken furniture, filthy walls, and at least a family of mice living in our vents, but it wasn’t like that. It actually looked fairly decent.

The door opened up directly to the living room, which was once a deep red, but had obviously faded over the years. It was connected to the kitchen; the two rooms only being separated by a countertop island that was attached to the wall. The counters were a light coral pink, whose color somehow stayed vibrant while the kitchen’s seashell wallpaper was sun-bleached almost beyond recognition. What little living room furniture we had at the apartment (being a ratty couch and an old tv) had already been set up. It looked right at home in the old room.

“Not so bad, is it?” Kankri asked. He as standing next to the island, his arms crossed smugly. “Mrs. Pyrope and her family tidied it up for us once the move was official.”

“Did they take care of the furniture as well?” I asked as I walked up the couch, dropping onto it after a moment. I smiled a bit, the familiar saggy cushions giving me some comfort.

“Yes, and we should thank them when we have the chance,” he said as he moved to join me on the couch. “They have done a lot for us as of recently. I doubt we would be here if not for their assistance.”

“I know,” I said quietly. A heavy silence settled over us briefly before Kankri dispersed it by ruffling my hair. I squawked angrily as I tried to put my unruly white locks back into order, and failed. Kankri chuckled.

“Damn it Kankri!” I exclaimed as I shot him another glair. It only made him laugh more. “I just got it to behave!”

“Come on,” he said as the chuckles subsided. “Let’s take a look at the rest of our new house.”

“Alright, if you insist,” I relented, climbing back to my feet as my brother did.

We made our way down the hall that was right behind the kitchen island. It was a simple white color with three doors scattered down it and one door at the end. Kankri opened the first door on the left.

“Here’s the bathroom,” he said, as if the light pink tiles and white toilet didn’t give it away. “I think this will be the first thing we remodel.”

“Why? Compared to the outside, it’s fine,” I told him. “I mean, yeah it’s old, after all no one has claw feet tubs anymore. But so’s the rest of the house so it’s not that bad.”

“I just am not particularly fond of how it looks. Especially that tub,” Kankri stated stiffly.

“Sure, whatever. It’s your house after all,” I said, dropping the subject. “I could care less what it looks like as long as I have a toilet and a place to take a shower.”

I turned away from the bathroom and pointed towards the door directly across from it.

“What’s this one?”

“Your room,” he answered simply. He shut the bathroom door as I moved to open my own.

I gawked at the room in front of me, amazed at what I saw. The room itself was a warm grey color with a bright red skyline mural on one wall. The furniture wasn’t much to look at, being only my mattress from the apartment and an old dresser, but apparently my friends had gone out of their way to make me feel at home. There were two new posters hanging over my mattress, one for _Fifty First Dates_ as well as one for _The Notebook._ On the mattress was a large stuffed crab while the dresser held what looked to be one of Terezi’s scalemates as well as a bottle of Faygo.

“This is all mine?” I asked as stepped into the middle of the room, my eyes drawn to the mural once again.

“Of course. It’s not like we need to share a room when it’s just the two of us in a three-bedroom house,” he answered. “I mean, when we were little I believe that was the plan, that you and I share this room. But that’s hardly necessary now.”

“Well, I know. It’s just…” my voice trailed off.

“You’re not used to it?”

“Yeah.”

 I stood there in silence for a while, following each bold red line as it crossed the wall until I came across a group of thin, swirly ones that seemed to form a signature. I stepped forward, letting my fingers brush against it as I picked out the name Diana Vantas from the brushstrokes.

“Mom painted this, didn’t she?” I asked.

“Yes, as well as the one in my room,” Kankri answered simply. “If I remember correctly, that one is green and of a forest skyline. Do you like it?”

“Yeah. It’s awesome.”

“Thought you would.

I dropped my hand from the painting before turning back to my brother.

“I’m going to go get my stuff,” I said, barely hiding my excitement as I rushed out of the room.

“We haven’t even seen the rest of the house!” Kankri exclaimed as I got to the end of the hallway. I spun around but continued walking backwards towards the door.

“I can see that later!” I told him, “If we’re going to be living her then I’ll have plenty of time to see it.”

I spun back around before darting out of the house, barely hearing Kankri say something about impatience as the door shut. I smiled to myself as I all but ran to the car. Despite the house’s first impression, I had a good feeling about our future here. After all, I had my brother and a roof over our head, which was all I really needed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Normally I like to update on Mondays but I decided what the hell, lets do this now while I'm at it. : )  
> So, hope you enjoy,  
> TBL
> 
> ps. I hate those stupid typing quirks! Especially since my computer keeps trying to "Fix" them for me.

Later that evening I laid contently on my mattress, looking over my slightly more decorated room. There was now a poster for _Hitched_ that had joined the other two on the wall, and the dresser now held a small stack of DVDs as well as an old picture of Kankri and I. The bottle of Faygo remained there, but the bright red scalemate had moved to the mattress to join the new stuffed crab along with a small beanie baby crab from when I was little. I had put a set of grey bedding and my old red blanket on the mattress, liking how well it matched the room.

I wasn’t going to admit it to anyone anytime soon but I loved this room. It was a perfect match for me from the color scheme right down to the window holding a view of the ocean. I doubt I could have done a better job if I designed the place myself.

There was a small knock on the door before Kankri peaked in the door, barely giving me enough time to hide the stuffed animals under my pillow. The stuffies that I had definitely not been snuggling with a moment before. He raised an eyebrow at my suspicious movement but didn’t give it any more attention than that.

“Sorry to disturb you,” he said. “I was just wondering what you want for dinner.”

“What do we have?” I asked, sitting up on the mattress.

“Well, since we haven’t done any shopping as of yet, it’s either spagettios or peanut butter sandwiches.” Kankri counted the options on his fingers as I made a face at them. He only smiled. “Or, I can order a pizza.”

I perked up at that suggestion.

“Yes!” I exclaimed, not giving him the chance to rescind his offer. “No pineapple!”

“I happen to think pineapple tastes quite good on pizza.”

“No it doesn’t!” I shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “Your taste buds have been tricked into thinking that by your weird vegetarian diet!”

“Whatever you say little brother,” Kankri said with an amused smile. “I’ll make the call.”

He left only to peak his head back in a moment later.

“Oh, one more thing. Would you like to go pickout the rest of our furniture tomorrow?” He inquired. “After all, between my classes and work I’m not sure when else we would be able to do it. We do not need much. Just some chairs for the counter, bedframes for our mattresses, and maybe a couple desks for classwork.”

“Ok, sounds good,” I said as I flopped back onto my pillow. “Let me know when the pizza’s here, will yah?”

“Of course.” He smiled at me once again before shutting the door on his way out.

I waited about thirty seconds to insure he wasn’t going to pop in again before pulling the stuffies out from their hiding spots and propping them up on either side of me. I just had them arranged perfectly (the scalemate on one side, the new crab on the other, with my old one on top it’s head) when my phone went off, indicating a message.

 

**GallowCalibrator:** H3Y K4RKL3S! L1K3 WH4T W3 D1D W1TH TH3 PL4CE?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** IF I SAY NO, WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME?

**GallowCalibrator:** NOP3! 1 KNOW YOU LOV3 1T :] 1 B3T YOU’RE SNUGGL1NG W1TH TH3 STUFF3D 4N1M4LS 4S W3 T3XT

 

I looked down at the three stuffies chilling next to me before answering.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** … NO I’M NOT

**GallowCalibrator:** YOU TOT4LLY 4R3! CONF3SS 4LR43DY 4ND S4V3 M3 TH3 TROUBL3 OF 1NT3R1G4T1NG YOU

**CarcinoGeneticist:** WHEN DID YOU BECOME THE LAWER? I THOUGHT THAT WAS YOUR MOTHER

**GallowCalibrator:** G1V3 1T T1M3 :]

 

I rolled my eyes at her message before continuing.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** SO…WHY DID YOU TWO DIMBWITS THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO LEAVE A BOTTLE OF FAYGO IN MY ROOM?

**TerminallyCapricious:** EvErYoNe nEeDs a ReFrEsHiNg bEvErAgE AfTeR A hArD DaYs wOrk

**CarcinoGeneticist:** HEY GAMZEE. AND WHAT’S SO REFRESHING ABOUT THAT SHIT?

**TerminallyCapricious:** It’S ThE WiCkEd eLiXeR KaRbRo. AiN’t nOtHiN BeTtEr tHaN ThAT

**GallowCalibrator:** 1’V3 GOT TO 4GR33 W1TH K4RKL3S ON TH1S ON3 BRO. 1 WOULD D3F1N4T3LY TH1NK TW1C3 4BOUT DR1NK1NG 1T 1F 1 W4S DY1NG OF TH1RST 1N TH3 D3S3RT

**CarcinoGeneticist:** AGREED.

**TerminallyCapricious:** Oh wElL. MoRe fOr mE.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** HOW ARE YOU TWO RELATED AGAIN?

**GallowCalibrator:** SHRUG…OUR P4R3NTS CL4IM W3 SH4R3D WHOMB SP4C3 BUT 1’M F1ND1NG TH4T H4RD3R 4ND H4RD3R TO B3L13V3.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** I HEAR YOU.

**TerminallyCapricious:** DiD YoU LiKe tHe cRaB?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** YEAH MAN, IT’S COOL.

**TerminallyCapricious:** ThAt wAs mY IdEa

**CarcinoGeneticist:** GOOD ONE. STIAN FITS GREAT ON HIS HEAD.

**TerminallyCapricious:** :o) ThE ScAiLmAtE WaS TeReZi’s iDeA

**GallowCalibrator:** 1 THOUGHT 4BOUT G1V1NG YOU 4 WH1T3 ON3 W1TH R3D 3Y3S SO YOU COULD M4TCH, BUT PYROSP1T3 IS M1N3.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** YOU CAN KEEP YOUR WEIRD DRAGON. MAYBE THEN YOU CAN LICK ITS EYES INSTEAD OF MINE

**GallowCalibrator:** K4RK4T, 1’V3 N3V3R L1CK3D YOUR 3Y3S.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** ONLY BECAUSE WE’VE NEVER MEET. I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT WHEN YOU FINALLY SEE ME YOU’LL BE AFTER MY FUCKING EYES LIKE A CANABALISTIC PSYCHO NEEDING A FIX!

**GallowCalibrator:** OH NO! YOU’V3 D1SCOV3R3D MY S3CR3T PL4N! WH4T 4M 1 3V3R TO DO?

 

I was just thinking up a whitty response to her sarcasm when I heard the doorbell ring. I paused as I listened to Kankri answer the door, hoping it was the pizza guy. After a brief conversation, I finally heard the door shut.

“Karkat! Dinner!”

“Coming!” I shouted back as I responded to my message.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** GADDA GO. PIZZA’S HERE.

**GallowCalibrator:** YOU H4V3 P1ZZ4?! TH4T’S NOT F4IR! 4LL W3’R3 G3TT1NG 1S D4D’S M34TLO4F :/

**CarcinoGeneticist:** SUCKS TO BE YOU! I’M NOT SHARING! TTYL

**GallowCalibrator:** S33 Y4H!

**TerminallyCapricious:** ByE KaRbRo!

 

“Karkat!” Kankri called again. “It’s going to grow cold.”

“I’m coming!” I shouted again as I set my phone on my dresser and opened the door. “You better not have ordered pineapple on it.”

“I may have. You are going to have to come to the kitchen to check though.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So it's technically not Monday yet over here, but eh, close enough. I've got to thank the people that gave me Kudo's even with it being such a small story right now. It makes me happy to see that there are others enjoying this other than myself. Also, John's finally making his appearance in this chapter. He's almost as fun to write as kiddy-Karkat : )
> 
> So, hope you enjoy,  
> TBL
> 
> ps. changed the tags around a bit. Hopefully they portray what this story's about a little better now. Might be changing them more. not sure

“BORED!” I shouted into the empty house as I flopped onto the sofa.

Today was Kankri’s first day at college and his new job which left me alone for the entire day. Now, I wouldn’t normally mind, that just meant I could watch my movies or chat with my friends all day. Unfortunately, between yesterday and today I’ve already watched all five of my movies and my friends each had some sort of “responsibilities” for the summer. Terezi and Gamzee helped out their mother by doing odd jobs around the office while my only other friend, Sollux, assisted his own mom with the family burger joint. It was good for them, but made my life a boring hell.

I was so bored that I was willing to do almost anything just to make it go away, but there was nothing left to do. Morning dishes were already done, our meager belonging put away, and all the furniture we bought yesterday already set up. The place was immaculate. And, therefore, incredibly boring.

I turned onto my stomach, hiding my face in a throw pillow to muffle my frustrated scream. Not that I really needed to, we didn’t have any neighbors on this little hill so it wasn’t like there was anyone around to hear me. I glared over the pillow, my eyes connecting with the kitchen window. I spent a few minutes watching the sea far below wash in and out rhythmically.

“Alright. That’s it!” I exclaimed as I rolled epically off the couch and onto my feet. I grabbed my phone, marched angrily out the door.

I only took a few steps before I left the path, walking across the newly cut grass and around the house towards the other side. I stood at the top of the hill for a moment, looking down at the empty docks below me. I couldn’t help but think that my brother wouldn’t particularly like me going down there on my own, but I needed to get out of that house. I knew that I was probably going to be just as bored down there as I was inside, but at least the beach wouldn’t echo the silence back to me.

So I made my way down the hill, careful not to lose my footing once I reached the point where the grass was tall again. It wasn’t long before the ground leveled out, making it a lot easier to get to the dock. Once I got to the end of it, I sat down, stripping my shoes and socks off before dipping my feet into the cool water below. I smiled slightly, enjoying the calm that came along with the faint tingling in my toes. I’ve always felt content when I was near water, especially if it was an ocean or salt water lake. I wasn’t sure why but I always felt more at home at a beach than anywhere else.

I laid back on the dock, closing my eyes as I swished my feet back and forth in the water. At the moment I wanted nothing more than to jump in and swim around for a while, but Kankri would definitely kill me if I did. He’s preached the dangers of swimming without a buddy so many times that I’ve lost count. He also liked to lecture about the dangers of the ocean to the point that I could probably recite it in my sleep.

I sighed, pushing down the thought of taking a dip so I could enjoy the water. I was just thinking about taking a small nap out here when I was shocked out of my peace.

“Hi!” A voice exclaimed happily, way too close to my right.

My eyes shot open as I darted away from the direction of the voice, almost causing me to fall off the dock.

“Whoa, careful! You don’t want to fall in,” the voice said again. “I doubt you want your clothes all wet.”

My head snapped over towards it, trying to find the culprit. To my surprise I saw a boy about my age, leaning on the dock like it was a countertop at a bar. His black hair was soaked, making most of it stick to his head while some part stuck up stubbornly. He smiled wide at me, showing off his buck teeth. For whatever reason he wasn’t wearing a shirt, only some sort of blue wind-sock-like hood whose end was somewhere below the water’s surface. He looked like a complete dweeb, and I’m pretty sure he knew it.

“What the fuck?!” I demanded angrily, making the boy blink at me. “Why the fuck did you do that?!”

“It’s a prank, duh?” he said, rolling his eyes before grinning at me again. “You have pranks up here right?”

“Of course I know what a prank is, you incompetent moron!”

“Are you sure? Because you’re acting like you’ve never seen one before.”

“Where the hell did you come from?” I asked with a glair.

“The sea.”

“How’d you get here??”

“I swam, duh?” He said, acquiring a sly look on his face. “Are you sure _you’re_ not the moron here.”

“What?!” My fists tightened at my sides, itching to punch this little brat halfway to the next continent.

“I like your shirt, by the way,” he said out of the blue. “What symbol is that?”

I looked down at my shirt in surprise, finding that I was wearing a tee-shirt that Terezi sent me ages ago. It was all black except for a grey astrological sign printed on it.

“Cancer, I think,” I answered, a confused look on my face. _What was this guy on? There’s no way anyone can be this happy without some sort of drugs._

“That’s the crab one, right?” He asked as I nodded blankly. “Cool! That’s my favorite!”

“Who even are you?”

“Oh! Sorry! I didn’t introduce myself, did I?” He said rhetorically. I raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t respond. “My name’s John! John Egbert. What’s yours?”

“Nonya,” I answered after a moment of thought. The boy cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Nonya? That’s an odd name. Nonya what?”

“It’s Non-yah fucking business,” I told him, hoping he’d get the hint and leave. Unfortunately, all it did was make him grin even wider than before.

“Hey! That was a good one! So you _do_ have pranks up here.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘up here’? It sounds stupid. It’s not like you live underground or anything.”

“Well no, not underground. It’s more like underwater.” He scratched the back of his head shyly as he spoke. I snorted in response, causing him to frown. “You don’t believe me?”

“You don’t exactly look like a fish,” I said with a smirk. “I mean, yeah you seem about as dumb as one, not to mention your soaked, but I don’t see any fins or scales.”

No sooner had I finished talking did something blue slowly start to rise out of the water behind the boy. The more that revealed itself the more I was able to recognize it. The thing was a giant fin, it’s width easily matching that of my arms if I stretched them out. My eyes widened as I saw that it was attached to something covered in sparkling blue scales, almost like a tail.

“You mean like this?” the boy asked, but I was unable to respond. My brain had stopped, for once unable to come up with something to say. All I could do was gawk at it as the rest of the tail disappeared into the water. If I looked really close I could just make out where the scaly fin attached to his torso.

“Can I put it down now? It’s kinda uncomfortable to stretch like that,” he asked after a few seconds. For some reason, it broke the spell that had me captivated. I shot to my feet faster than I ever thought possible, and ran towards the house. I didn’t stop to grab my shoes, or even look back when I heard the boy calling to me. Instead I just kept running until I was back inside the safety of my own home, with the door locked.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, a bit of an early update but I really like this story and am always excited to post a new chapter. I kinda want to post all I have right now, but if I do that then I might not be able to keep up with my update schedule, so I wait. 
> 
> Thanks to all of you that gave Kudo's and bookmarks. I'm really excited to know that there are others reading this that are enjoying it. I know that merstuck isn't really everyone's thing so to see that there's anyone reading it at all makes me happy.
> 
> Anyways, this whole chapter is mostly Karkat acting cute and Kankri being awesome.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

I was sitting on the floor of the living room when Kankri came home that night. I heard the door unlock over the sound of _Mean Girls_ playing on the television for the umpteenth time tonight. I wasn’t paying attention to it in the slightest, only having it on to get rid of the silence of the house.

“Karkat, I’m home,” Kankri announced. He shuffled around the door before stopping suddenly. “Karkat?”

I peeked out to see my brother standing by the door, frozen with his backpack in his hand. He seemed confused, as he finally set the bag on the floor and shut the door before heading over towards me.

“How can you watch your movie from inside there?” he asked, moving one of the sofa cushions I had used to support my pillow and blanket fort. I sat on the inside, my red blanket around my shoulders with all three stuffed animals in my lap. He gave me a smile once he could finally see me.

“It’s on repeat,” I said quietly. Kankri frowned, looking worried.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Why would anything be wrong?” I questioned, pulling the stuffies closer for a moment.

“Because you have not made one of these forts since you were eight and were trying to hide from the social worker,” he answered. “So what is wrong?”

The smiley boy at the dock flashed in my mind, along with his tail that I’ve been spending the last several hours trying to rationalize. There was no way it could be his, yet he was attached to it and obviously in control of it. But things like that didn’t exist. Mermaids weren’t real!

“Karkat?” I snapped out of my thoughts to see Kankri looking even more worried than before. “You know you can tell me, right?”

I nodded. He waited for a little while but I didn’t say anything.

“Do you want to tell me?” he asked, which made me think.

I mean, Kankri knew a lot so if mermaids _did_ exist, which was a very big if, then he would probably know. But then again, I could be going insane and, in that case, I didn’t want him to know that I was seeing weird boys with fins in the water. I just got my brother back and I didn’t want to do anything to risk getting taken from him again.

After a moment, I shook my head slowly. I looked away from him, feeling a guilty, but he only ruffled my hair through the crack in my pillow fortress. I turned back towards him to see him smiling softly at me.

“Alright. I won’t make you tell me if you do not want to,” he said simply. “I trust that you would tell me if it was something dangerous. It isn’t, right?”

I shook my head.

“Good.” Kankri climbed to his feet, walking towards the kitchen. “Did you eat? I, myself, haven’t eaten in several hours so I’m quite famished.”

“Me too,” I answered, watching him through a crack on the other side as he searched through the fridge.

“Alright then. I will make us something to eat while you make room in that fort for me as well. Either that or put the cushions back on the couch so we can use our furniture properly.”

After a moment of thought, I decided I was not yet ready to give up my fortress and that expanding it would make it that much better. I set most of my stuffies aside before climbing out of my haven with my blanket tied around my shoulders and Stian tucked into its collar. I started making my way down the hallway as Kankri gave me a questioning look.

“If it’s going to be bigger, I’m going to need more bedding,” I said as I made a bee-line towards his room.

“Are you going to make sure the television fits in it this time?” he called as I pulled the blankets and pillows off his bed.

“Only if I can use the new kitchen stools!” I yelled back. I thought for a moment before grabbing his new desk chair as well, dragging them all back down the hall.

“It better be an impressive fort then,” he replied.

“Are you kidding? I only make the best.”

 

_ _ _ _

 

I tossed and turned for most of the night, unable to actually fall asleep with the thought of my possible insanity looming over my head. I didn’t want to be crazy. I wanted to be a normal kid living with his twenty-one year old brother. But instead I’m seeing mermaids in the ocean when there’s no way they could possibly exist. That couldn’t be considered normal.

I had maybe slept an hour or two when I woke up to Kankri checking in on me. It had to be about six in the morning since the sun wasn’t even peeking through my window yet.

“I’m sorry I woke you,” Kankri whispered from his spot by the door. “I’m heading off to school now. I’ll call to check in on you before work starts. If there’s a problem, don’t be afraid to call, alright?”

I nodded, not even bothering to raise my head off the pillow.

“Alright, have a good day. I’ll be back this evening,” he said, beginning to shut my bedroom door.

“Kankri?” I called to him, making him stop. “Am I normal?”

He froze for a moment, obviously taken aback at my question.

“What makes you ask that?”

“I’m not, am I?” I said, my eyes wondering away from him and to the mural on the wall. There was silence between the two of us for a while until I felt him sit on the end of my bed.

“Karkat, in truth, there’s no such thing as a ‘normal person.’ It is no more than a stereotype of a perfectly generic individual based on what society sees as conventional,” he said. I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. “Basically, no one can be normal because we are all different. If we all were normal, the world would be a very boring place. Does that answer your question?”

“Not really,” I answered, having been waiting for more of a mental based answer.

“Alright, maybe if you tell me why you’re asking then I’ll be able to help.”

“Don’t you have to go to school?” I said, glancing back at him in time to catch his surprised face checking his watch.

“Oh, right,” he said, rushing back to his feet and towards the door. “We can talk more when I get home, if you’d like.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I murmured, burying my head back into my pillow.

He hesitated a moment before leaving the room entirely. It was only a minute later that I heard him go through the front door and his car leave the driveway.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here's a new chapter for you guys. It's a bit longer than usual because I won't be able to update next week due to the fact I won't have internet for a week. But have no fear, I'll be working on it quite a bit while I'm away!
> 
> Anyways, Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

I would have loved to have dozed back off and slept until noon, but that was not meant to be. Instead my mind decided that it was time to start the day and that sleep was no longer necessary. I laid in bed for another hour hoping that this was not the case, but it was not to be tricked that easily. So with a groan, I climbed out of bed and began my morning routine.

After using the bathroom and changing into something other than pajamas, I went to the kitchen in search of food. I poured myself a bowl of Fruit Loops and sat at one of the new stools by the countertop island. Staring out the kitchen window, I methodically ate my breakfast, barely tasting it as I continued to be lost in thought about the possible merboy.

I had just begun to convince myself that it was a onetime thing, when something small appeared, interrupting my peaceful view of the dock. I froze, a spoon of cereal halfway into my mouth as I watched this small, person shaped blob sit there for a moment before disappearing under the water only to appear on the other side of the docks.

Dropping my spoon into the bowl, I darted down the hallway, stopping only to grab Kankri’s binoculars before running straight to my bedroom window. I knelt on the desk in front of it, wanting to get as close to the glass as possible before fitting the binoculars to my eyes.

It was him! That little, black haired, windsock boy from yesterday was back again! He was leaning against the dock in the exact same way, looking kinda bored, like he was waiting for something. I watched him for a few minutes as he did basically nothing except tap his fingers and occasionally flip his tail out of the water.

I removed the binoculars from my face, rubbing my eyes before placing them back into place. He was still there. In fact, in the few seconds it took me to try to get him to disappear, he had picked up my shoe and was studying it intently. He turned it over in his hands, looking at it with such pure curiosity that I could almost believe he was real. But then the idiot ruined it by sniffing the damn thing. He made a disgusted face as he accidentally dropped it into the water below.

I let out an indignant squawk, my jaw dropping in shock as the boy seemed to know enough to look guilty about it. He looked around as if to see if anyone caught his blunder before diving under the water, his blue fin flashing out of the water before disappeared below the surface. A moment later he appeared, my soggy sneaker in hand. He observed it for a moment longer before placing it right next to the other one as if I wouldn’t notice that one of them was dripping through the cracks in the dock.

I made an annoyed noise as I watched him go back to the far side of the dock in an attempt to look innocent. I was just debating whether I should confront the (possible) figment of my imagination about my ruined shoe when he looked towards the house. He straightened up as his eyes locked onto my window before waving.

“The fuck!” I yelled as I fell off my desk and onto the floor below. I rubbed a sore spot on my head for a moment, frowning angrily at the window. After a moment, I grabbed the binoculars and sat low in my desk chair so my eyes were level with the lowest part of the window. I looked through the lenses again to find the boy laughing happily in the water.

Once he stopped laughing so hard, he looked back at my window, squinting a bit before his face seemed to light back up. He pointed towards me before trying to wave me down to the water with him. I dived for the floor again.

I knew I should just ignore him, go to the living room and watch my movies again, but the curiosity was too much. I had to see what he was doing down there, whether he was real or not. So I waited a minute or so then peeked back through the window once again.

This ended up turning into a weird game of hide-and-seek that lasted for most of the day. I would army crawl around the house to different windows in order to try to observe the boy without him seeing me. But, no matter which one I was at, he was always able to find where I was within a few minutes of the move.

In fact, I was so intent on trying to win this strange game that I completely forgot about pretty much everything else that didn’t have to do with the boy down in the water. I almost felt that if I were to beat him, then I would finally learn the truth; if he was real or imaginary, if I crazy or sane.

“Karkat?” Kankri’s voice made me jump pulling my focus away from the kitchen window. I turned around from my spot on a stool to see my brother in the doorway, still wearing his button up shirt and apron from his coffee shop job.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” I asked, checking my watch to see that it was, in fact almost 4:30 in the afternoon. He wasn’t supposed to be home until nine.

“I’m on lunch,” he replied quickly as he shut the door and hurried into the kitchen. “Why didn’t you answer when I called?”

“Umm…what call?” I questioned as I put down the binoculars.

“I called to check on you at approximately 11:30. I got no answer, just as I did when I called on my break at two, and again right before I headed here.”

“I didn’t hear anything.” I shrugged, making Kankri pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“Where is your phone?” He asked. I only shrugged in answer. “How did you lose your phone? You’ve hardly separated from the thing since you got it.”

I shrugged again.

“What am I going to do with you?” Kankri muttered with a shake of his head. “What are you even doing?”

My first instinct was to lie, to tell my brother that I was doing nothing in order to conceal my possible insanity. But then an idea came to mind. A way to prove what was true once and for all.

“Here. Look.” I offered him the binoculars, motioning for him to look out the window once he had them.

“What am looking for?” he wondered before pressing them to his eyes.

“Do you see anything odd?” I asked simply. He looked at me for a moment with a raised eyebrow before turning back towards the window.

There were a few tense seconds of silence while I waited for an answer.

“Odd? Yes, there is definitely something odd down there,” Kankri muttered. I perked up as he turned back towards me, lowering the binoculars as he did. “Care to explain why your shoes are sitting on the dock?”

“I knew it!” I exclaimed before his words actually registered. “Wait, what?”

I grabbed the binoculars and pointed them towards the dock again. It looked exactly the same as it did when I had looked away. There was the ocean, the dock, and my shoes. The only thing that wasn’t there was that damn merboy.

“That bastard!” I shouted as I scoured the water for any sign of his bright blue fin.

“Karkat,” Kankri stated boldly, pulling the binoculars away from my face. “First of all, watch your language. Second, you haven’t answered my question. Why are your shoes down on the docks?”

I stammered something about forgetting them yesterday, my mind still boggled by the disappearing boy.

“The ocean is dangerous, especially when alone. You know this.”

“It’s not like I was swimming,” I muttered, crossing my arms and looking away. “I just sat there with my feet in the water.”

“Regardless. I would rather you not be that close to the water when you’re alone. Anything could happen,” my brother stated. I rolled my eyes, recognizing the start of his water safety speech, I jumped down from my perch and started towards the door.

“Where are you going?”

“To get my shoes,” I answered.

“Karkat Vantas.” I froze, my hand mere inches from the doorknob. “There is no way you are walking down there without proper foot coverings.”

He sighed, running his hands through his own white hair as if to calm himself.

“Just stay here. I’ll grab them,” he said exasperated.

I watched him walk past me and out the door. I stood there almost unmoving as I waited for my brother to come back. I was beginning to feel guilty for putting him through all of this. He had been worried about me, that much was obvious even without him saying so. He only had an hour for lunch, and with a twenty-minute drive home from his work, he should have stayed there. But instead he came to check on me even thought that meant that he wouldn’t have time for his own meal.

I shook my head as I headed towards the kitchen, pulling out the peanut butter and jelly from their spots as well as two slices of bread. My brother may be the best parental figure there was known to man, but he was a real idiot when it came to taking care of himself. _I have no idea how he survived this long._

 “I left them near the door to dry,” he said as he came through the door a few minutes later. “For whatever reason one of them is entirely soaked.”

He dusted off his pants before stopping suddenly when he found me blocking his path.

“Eat,” I told him, holding out the sandwich so it was level with his nose.

“Thank you?” he said, taking it from me. I stared him down until he took a bite from it. I nodded my approval before starting to make my own after realizing that I was starving.

“I have to head back now or I will be late,” Kankri said, his free hand now resting on the still open door. “Will you be alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“Very well. Behave yourself while I’m gone. And I want you to find your phone before I come back tonight.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Send me a text when you find it.”

“Bye Kankri,” I said before taking a bite out of my sandwich. He shook his head as he headed out the door, leaving me alone once again.

I sat there for a while as I ate my sandwich. I still couldn’t figure out how that little bastard had been able to disappear like that just as my brother was to look out the window. I chanced a glance out to the dock, unsure if I wanted to see him or not. He wasn’t there regardless.

“Guess I really am crazy,” I muttered to myself, looking down at my half-eaten sandwich, not really feeling hungry anymore. I finished it off anyways, not really tasting it much. Once I was done I cleaned up after the small dinner, making sure to take care of my overly soggy cereal I hadn’t touched since this morning. I put everything away before starting the search for my phone, beginning with the couch.

 

_ _ _ _ 

 

That night I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. I had gotten a long lecture from Kankri once he returned from work. It was everything I had heard before, so it didn’t feel too bad that I was too distracted by my own thoughts to listen.

I was going crazy. It was all but official. I was becoming skitso-whatever it is that means you’re seeing people that aren’t there. It was the only explanation. Kankri didn’t see him, which meant I shouldn’t have seen him either. But that wasn’t the case, instead I spent the entire day playing a stupid hide-and-seek game with something that didn’t exist. The only good thing to come from this was that my shoe ended up getting a much needed bath.

My eyes, which had been drifting shut, snapped open quickly as a thought struck me. The shoe. Kankri said one of them was wet, that’s why they were outside the front door. But, if the merboy was really a figment of my imagination then he would have never touched the shoe in reality. It would have never dropped into the ocean. He would never have retrieved it. Therefore, if he was really fake, then why would the shoe be wet?

I turned onto my side, gathering my stuffies closer as I stared at the mural across the room. My uncertainty was back and I want exactly sure how to deal with it. All I knew was that I wasn’t going to get any sleep again tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! I'm really happy to see so many more Kudos and bookmarks. : ) I know this AU type isn't very popular so I'm happy to get even a couple. So thanks for your support! : )
> 
> So here's another chapter of Karkat being cute with a cameo of Sollux being awesome.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

After an entire night trying to figure out what the heck was going on with this kid, I was exhausted by the time the sun came up. I didn’t even bother to get out of my pajamas as I dragged my feet around the house. I had glanced out the kitchen window once when I was pouring a bowl of Fruit Loops, finding that the blue finned idiot was back. I only blinked as he caught sight of me and began to wave enthusiastically. Unfortunately for him I was too tired to deal with him or his questionable existence so I grabbed my food and went to the couch.

I turned on the TV, letting it play whatever movie was in the DVD player at the time then sat back and ate my breakfast.

I was halfway through my second run of _Ella Enchanted_ (only because I was too lazy to switch to something else when it was over), when my phone went off. I rolled my eyes as I reached for the device, which had been inside the couch the night before. I already knew who was texting me, after all only one of my friends has the skills to hack my phone and change his ringtone to some nerd shouting “BUZZ BUZZ MOTHERFUCKER!”

 

**twinArmageddons:** 2o, II heard you moved iinto your new hou2e. From TZ. Why am II alway2 the la2t one two hear about thii2 type of 2hiit?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** WHAT DO YOU WANT SOLLUX?

**twinArmageddons:** Already told you. II want two know why ii’m alway2 hearing iimportant 2tuff 2econd hand.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** I’VE BEEN BUISY YOU INSUFFERABLE PRICK.

**twinArmageddons:** Doiing what? Watchiing your 2hiity moviie2 all day? IIt’2 not liike you have a job or anythiing.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** WE’VE BEEN AT THIS HOUSE FOR THREE DAYS. DO YOU REALLY THINK WE’VE FINISHED PUTTING ALL OUR SHIT AWAY?

**twinArmageddons:** Ye2. Do you want two know why?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** NO

**twinArmageddons:** Becau2s you don’t have jack shiit two put away two begiin wiith. That and II hacked your phone camera.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** BULLSHIT.

**twinArmageddons:** Ella Enchanted? Really? You 2eriiou2ly need 2ome better taste iin moviies. Broaden tho2e 2mall horizon2 of your2. Also, you look liike 2hit.

 

I glared at the screen, still not believing him.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** HAH, JOKES ON YOU. I’M WATCHING THE NOTEBOOK.

 

A moment later Sollux sent two photos to me. One was of my television as it looked about three minutes ago captioned “Liiar”. The other was of me glaring at the camera with “you’re not cryiing enough for the notebook,” written over it. I flicked off the phone, knowing he would see it.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** YOU’RE A FUCKING CREEPER, YOU KNOW THAT?

**twinArmageddons:** II thiink what you meant two 2ay was “a fuckiing tech legend”

**CarcinoGeneticist:** I KNOW WHAT I SAID.

**twinArmageddons:** II’m awe2ome and you know iit.

 

I rolled my eyes at my friend. Apparently he was having a good day, which meant that he acted like a cocky asshole instead of self-deprecating one. Regardless of his odd mood swings, he was a pretty good friend. He knew a lot about technology stuff and, because of that, could get any other information he wanted online.

I thought for a moment, realizing that I might have found an answer to my unanswerable question. After all, if he could get anything off the web, wouldn’t he be able to find that?

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** HEY, I’VE GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU.

**twinArmageddons:** are you fiinally recogniiziing my talent2?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** ONLY YOUR TALENT OF FINDING WEIRD SHIT ONLINE

**twinArmageddons:** II’ll take what II can get. A2k quick before my mom realiize2 II’m 2lackiing on the job.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** IS IT POSSIBLE FOR UNKNOWN CREATURES TO LIVE IN THE OCEAN?

**twinArmageddons:** where the fuck diid you come up wiith that?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** I’M LIVING RIGHT NEXT TO A SMALL BEACH WITH VERY LITTLE TO DO DURING THE DAY. I GOT BORED. MY MIND WANDERED. THAT’S IT. DON’T GO READING INTO IT.

**twinArmageddon:** 2ure, whatever you say. Regardle22, you’re goiing two have two be more 2peciifiic. Do you mean 2tuff liike random miicroorganiism2, or oddly shaped fii2h, or…2omethiing el2e?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** …SOMETHING ELSE? LIKE CTHULHU, OR THE KRACKEN, OR, IDK, MERMAIDS. COULD THEY EXIST WITHOUT EVERYONE KNOWING?

**twinArmageddon:** That’s a 2tupiid que2tion.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** I KNOW…

**twinArmageddon:** Of cour2e they could exii2t. Do you know how large the ocean2 are? No, you don’t. Iin fact, no one doe2. We can’t get 2ub2 to go that deep, the pre22ure would be two much for them. 2o, 2iince no one can get down that deep, iit’s 2afe two 2ay that almo2t anythiing can exii2t down there.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** REALLY? EVEN MERPEOPLE?

**twinArmageddon:** E2peciialy merpeople. Iif they exii2t then, they’re probably about our 2ame iintelliigence level, 2o they would know how to avoiid notiice iif they felt liike iit.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** THAT MAKES SENSE…I GUESS.

**twinArmageddon:** ii2 that all?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** YEAH, THAT’S IT.

**twinArmageddon:** Are you 2ure?

 

I stared at his last text in confusion for a moment. _What the hell did he mean by that?_

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** UMM…YEAH? WHAT ELSE WOULD I BE ASKING?

**twinArmageddon:** Alriight, iif that’2 how you want two play thii2, II go along wiith iit.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** ???

**twinArmageddon:** Forget iit. Just know that when you’re ready two a2k your real que2tion, II’m right here. With my phone. And unliimiited wiifii. Just waiitiing wiith bated breath two an2wer your que2tiion2.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** … WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?

**twinArmageddon:** 2hiit! My mom ju2t found me! GTG or 2he’2 goiing to confiin2cate my phone!

**CarcinoGeneticist:** SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH YOUR PHONE.

**twinArmageddon:** 2tfu!

 

I shook my head at the text as I set my phone aside, letting my mind wander for some a time. I was still processing what he had said. He all but told me that merpeople could exist, and with such enthusiasm that meant he probably thought about it before.  His word’s made sense in theory, but when faced with a strange merboy staring you down through your window, it still left me uneasy.

The movie continued as my mind chassed itself around in circles. Even with Sollux’s response, I still couldn’t come up with an appropriate answer to my own question. It wasn’t until the title screen was playing on the television once again, that I even moved.

I got up from my seat, bring my bowl to the kitchen sink as I stayed buried in my thoughts. I glanced out the window for a moment, stopping as I watched the boy once again. He looked bored like yesterday, but there was something else there too. He wasn’t just bored, he almost looked disheartened, like he was looking forward to something that never happened.

It didn’t take much to realize that the thing he was looking forward to was me. After all, every time he’s caught sight of me after our initial meeting he’s been trying to get me back to the dock.

_He must be really lonely if he’s trying to befriend me._ The thought popped into my head unbidden, surprising me. Lonely? That hyperactive kid I saw at the docks? No way! But the more I watched him, leaning on the dock, blowing half-dried strands of hair out of his face with bored huffs, I could see it. He was lonely.

I dropped the bowl into the sink with a loud clatter as I shot to my room, quickly changing into a pair of grey shorts and a black shirt with a crab decal on it. I then grabbed my phone as I ran through the living room, throwing open the front door when I got there. I slipped my shoes, one still slightly damp, before stepping out onto the grass to walk around the house.

It wasn’t long before I rounded the house and started down the hill towards the dock. I was only about halfway there when the merboy caught sight of me, perking up considerably. He could hardly contain his excitement as I made my way towards him, his tail occasionally flitting out of the water.

I had only just stepped onto the dock when he spoke.

“You came back!” he exclaimed, jumping halfway out of the water, his arms acting almost like anchors on the dock.

“I guess so,” I muttered as I plopped down near the edge, slipping off my shoes as I did.

“I-I wasn’t sure if you would,” he said, sounding more subdued then before. “You didn’t come yesterday, and didn’t even respond this morning.”

“I was trying to decide if you were real,” I said shortly as I slipped my feet into the water. I ignored the muffled chuckle the boy gave off as I enjoyed the feel of the water on my toes.

“You weren’t sure if I was real?” he asked, still trying to hide his chuckles and not doing a very good job at it.

“For your information, my world doesn’t believe you exist. If I had told anyone I saw a mermaid in my back yard, they would have laughed me right to the insane asylum.”

“Asylum?”

“A place where they lock up crazy people to keep them from hurting others.”

“OOH, I guess that makes sense,” he said with an exaggerated nod. “So, I guess you decided I was real then?”

“Not really. I could still go either way.”

“Then why’d you come back?”

I glanced at him for a moment, his large blue eyes looking at me curiously. I thought about lying and saying something cool, but then, for some strange reason, decided not to.

“You looked lonely,” I muttered as I looked away from him.

“What?”

“I said, you looked lonely. And no one should be lonely, whether they’re imaginary or not.”

There was silence for a while between us for a little bit. I was sure he was going to start laughing at my sappy mentality any second now. So, I was thoroughly surprised when he wrapped his arms around my legs in an awkward hug.

“Thank you!” he exclaimed happily, a happy smile spread across his face. I was stunned for a moment, until his weight made me unbalanced, almost sending me into the water with him.

“Let go you idiot! You’re going to drag me in!” I exclaimed angrily as I tried to pull out of his grasp. It made him laugh, but not let go of my legs.

I continued to shout at him, using every insult I could think off to get this weird boy off my legs, but nothing worked. In fact, it only made him laugh harder. I was suddenly regretting ever leaving my couch this afternoon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry it's a bit short but that's where I put the break when I wrote it. I don't really pay attention to word counts when I'm switching scenes.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for all the Kudo's and Bookmarks! I'm happy to see others enjoying this story as much as I am. Also, don't be afraid to drop a comment to let me know how I'm doing. I love to hear feedback, good or bad, as long as it's constructive. : )
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

When Kankri came home that night, he entered the house to the sound of me cursing out the microwave.

“Karkat? What are you doing?” he asked as I grabbed a hand towel to clean up the exploded soup dripping from the top of that stupid machine.

“This piece of sh--stupid just ruined dinner!” I yelled back, as I struggled to wipe up all of it.

Unfortunately, I was unable to reach the back of the microwave even as I stood on my tip toes. I wasn’t struggling long before Kankri took the towel from me and finished cleaning the soup.

“You seem to be in a better mood,” he commented as he took the towel over to the sink and rinsed it clean. “What changed, if I might ask?”

“I, uh, took a nap,” I muttered, hoping he didn’t look too much into it.

I still didn’t feel right telling him about the merboy, John I think. I still wasn’t sure if he was real (no matter how many pranks he pulled today to prove just that) and I didn’t want to say something and have it be false. My brother was stressed enough; he didn’t need to worry about this too. Plus, even if he was real, I kinda felt like I would be betraying his trust telling anyone about him.

Kankri looked at me with a raised eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He rung out the towel and hung it off the oven door to let it dry.

“Are you at least feeling better?”

“Yeah, lots. Thanks.”

“That’s good. You had me worried.” He pulled the destroyed soup out of the microwave and set it on the countertop in order to examine it. “I don’t think there is anything even left in the bowl. How long did you put it in there for exactly?”

“Umm, six minutes,” I replied, getting a shake of his head in response. “Too long?”

“Just a bit,” he answered with a smile as he put it in the sink. “For future reference, soup does quite well on two minutes.”

“Our old one took six minutes.”

“Our old one could hardly soften butter if I left it in there for two minutes. It was on its last leg when I got it. By the time you joined me it was well past ready for its grave.” He knelt down to look in the cupboards, examining the canned foods he stored there. “This one is much better.”

“Oh,” I said as he pulled out a large can, setting it on the counter before opening another cupboard and pulling out a pan.

“How does beef stew sound?” he asked as he got to his feet and began searching for the can opener.

“Better than my soup.” I opened a drawer, pulling out a large spoon and placing it next to the stove as my brother chuckled lightly.

“I suppose you’re right,” he relented, finally finding the can opener and putting it to work.

We were quiet as he poured the soup into the pot and placed it on a warming burner. I decided it was best to get out of his way so I went to the other side of the island and jumped up onto one of the stools. I swung my feet as I watched Kankri rinse the can before carefully placing it into the recycle bin. 

Several minutes went by of Kankri stirring while I toyed with my phone before either of us spoke again.

“So, would you like to continue our conversation from yesterday morning?” he asked. I shot him a confused look that he missed since his back was too me still. It took me a few seconds to figure out he was talking about the ‘definition of normal’ conversation we had at way too early yesterday morning.

“Oh, no. I’m good now. Honest.” The words rushed out quickly to try to avoid the conversation. That was a stupid moment of weakness that I didn’t want to relive anytime soon.

“Are you sure? You didn’t seem very satisfied with my answer before.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I said slowly, so to let my mind think. “But I talked to Sollux today and kinda found what I was looking for so I’m good.”

“Alright, I’m glad you got your answer.” He shot me a smile over his shoulder before turning back towards the stew. “If you have any more questions, don’t feel afraid to ask. That’s what elder brothers are for after.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I spoke truthfully. “Is the food done yet?”

“For someone that put their soup in the microwave for six minutes, you are awfully impatient.”

 “I’m not going to live that down, am I?” I ask, making my brother laugh once again.

“Not for the foreseeable future, no.”

I groaned, throwing my head back in exasperation, which only made Kankri laugh even more.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm glad to see that there's more of you reading this every week. Anyways, here's the new chapter. If you want, you can drop a comment, letting me know what you think about it. I love any sort of feedback, good or bad, just as long as it's not purposely malicious.
> 
> Anyways, if your curious about how I'm imagining John to look, I've done a new picture of him that has been posted on my deviant art. Though I could include it in one of the chapters as well. Let me know if that's something you'd like me to do. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

The next morning I didn’t even hear Kankri leave. In fact I didn’t so much as twitch until it was well past nine in the morning. I couldn’t help but smirk slightly into my pillow as I savored peace that came from being able to sleep in. I was rarely able to sleep this late, especially the last few days, so I was a little reluctant to leave the coziness of my bed. I almost stayed in bed longer than that; I had already pulled my stuffies closer and burrowed deeper into the blankets. But when I shut my eyes a lonely version of the merboy was looking back at me.

I sighed, rolling out of my nest before climbing to my feet. I peeked around the blinds, squinting at the bright sun as I looked out the window. He was there, hanging the dock with his head half submerged in the water. He pulled himself back and forth in the water, looking completely bored

Shaking my head, I grabbed a change of clothes before heading to the bathroom to start my morning routine. Once I was dressed, and slightly more awake, I grabbed the box of cereal and tucked it under my arm. After checking to make sure my phone was in my pocket I left the house and made my way towards the docks.

“You took forever!” the merboy exclaimed as he straightened up at least so his head was out of the water. “What took you so long?”

“I actually slept last night, that’s what,” I told him, flopping down on the dock placing the cereal down next to me.

“But why so late? I’ve been here for hours.”

“Would you rather be waiting until noon like yesterday?’ I asked. He pouted at me as I opened the box and began eating my breakfast.

“No! I was just saying!” I exclaimed quickly. I huffed in amusement but otherwise didn’t say anything. I watched as he took on a curious are to him.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing towards the box of cereal.

“Mine,” I answered around a mouthful of cereal. He frowned at me.

“But what is it?”

“Food. And it’s mine.” I grabbed another handful as he watched intently. His eyes were wide as he observed the brightly colored circles in my palm.

“They’re so bright!” he exclaimed, his eyes never leaving the cereal. “They smell good. Sweet.”

I shoved the whole handful into my mouth before he could ask for some. He frowned at me.

“You had me waiting a long time. You could at least share,” he pouted.

“If you’re hungry go eat a fish,” I replied, pulling the box closer to me so he wouldn’t get any funny ideas.

“But I _always_ eat fish. I’ve never had that weird, sweet coral circles before,” he stated. I didn’t say anything as I continued to eat, looking into the box for a moment to see how much was in there. “Come on. Please!”

It was about then that I made the mistake of turning back towards the boy and got hit with the biggest set of puppy-dog eyes I’ve ever seen. I had no way of fighting against those things.

“Fine!” I relented, shoving a handful into his partially webbed hands. He lit up like a damn Christmas tree and make some sort of excited, high-pitched squeak reminiscent of a dolphin. I slumped down in defeat with a new handful of cereal, glaring at the boy as I watched him carefully try a piece.

His eyes went wide at the taste, a smile slowly spreading across his face until it was almost wider than humanly possible.

“This stuff’s amazing!” he exclaimed as he put the rest of them in mouth in quick succession, making him cough briefly when his throat had trouble keeping up.

“Don’t choke. I don’t know if the Heimlich works on merpeople. Not that I know how to do it anyways,” I said. He tried to say something but it only came out severely muffled from the food in his mouth, making him cough lightly again. “Seriously, don’t choke. I can’t save you from your own stupidity.”

He rolled his eyes before focusing on finishing the cereal he had in his mouth. It wasn’t until he swallowed the last bit of it did he speak again.

“Merfolk.”

“What?”

“We’re called merfolk, not merpeople. That just sounds stupid.” He smiled as I glared at him. “We do use ‘Mermaids’ and ‘mermen’ too, but ‘merfolk’ is what we use generally.”

“Merfolk sounds stupid,” I said, getting a frown in return.

“Well so does ‘whomans’ but you don’t see me complaining.”

“It’s ‘human’, you nitwit.”

“Whatever, can I have more?” He asked as he eyed the box again.

“No. You almost choked on the last one!”

“I’ll eat slower! I promise!”

“No.”

“But-“ he tries as he began to try his puppy dog eyes on me yet again. But I wasn’t going to fall for that this time. Before he could even finish his sentence, I rolled the bag back up and closed the box.

“Nope. We’re done here. No more for today.”

“Aww. But they were soooo good!”

“What’s your name again?” I asked, more to get him off the subject than anything else. He cocked his head to the side, staring at me for a moment before answering.

“John,” he says slowly as he looked at me suspiciously. “Didn’t I tell you the other day? I’m pretty sure I did.”

“Just checking.”

“You forgot, didn’t you.”

“I said I was just checking!”

“Sure,” he said, his unbelieving tone. “So….what’s your name? I’m just checking too. Since you never actually told me.”

I glared at him for a long moment before responding.

“Karkat Vantas,” I replied after a moment.

“Really? You’re not pranking me again are you? Not that I’d mind. I love pranks.”

“No, that’s my real name.” I slipped my shoes off and placed my feet in the water once again. I smiled lightly at the feel of it.

“That’s a cool name.” he said, crossing his arms on the doc and resting his chin on them. “Cooler than John.”

“That’s for sure.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know John’s a perfectly acceptable name.”

“If by that you mean perfectly boring.” I smirked as he puffed his cheeks out angrily.

“Your face is perfectly boring,” he muttered into his arms.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I said, doing nothing to hide my smirk. He turned bright red and began trying defend his statement. As he did so, I couldn’t help but think that the rest of my summer might not be as boring as I thought.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! New Chapter time : ) Thanks for all the kudo's and the bookmarks. As always, i'm super happy to see that you're enjoying this little story of mine. If you'd like to leave a comment to let me know how I'm doing, that would be awesome : ) 
> 
> As for the picture of John, I'm just putting the URL here so you can see it if you want to, since I didn't hear either way. [merjohn](http://twicethetrouble.deviantart.com/art/Merjohn-692408542)
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL
> 
>    
> ps. guess who learned how to do links : )
> 
>  
> 
> \---

It had been about a week since I started meeting John by the dock everyday, which became a bit of a routine for the two of us. I’d head down whenever I got up in the morning, my breakfast brought with me. I’d eat it while grudgingly sharing a bit with him, usually just to get those damn blue puppy dog eyes off me. He was always carefully tasted it first, to see if it was any good before inevitably downing the rest of his piece without much pause.

He was also always eager to hear about how the human world worked. Nothing like politics or complicated stuff like that, but simple things, like how bread is made and what shoes are for. I would give him answers the best I could, but I didn’t know everything. So I’d ask Kankri or Sollux about it later and bring him their response the next day.

I was so scared when I started asking them random questions like how do watches keep time. I was certain they’d know something was up, but they never asked about it, only sending me strange looks/suspicious emoji’s before answering whatever I asked. I thought it was a bit odd, but didn’t want to bring it up and have them stop. The merboy was always so happy to hear the answers that I really didn’t want to disappoint him by not having them anymore.

And it was that exact reason that had me sitting on the docks in the middle of a fucking downpour with only a drenched hoodie failing to keeping me dry.

“So they take little bits of string and just kinda knot them together?” He asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

“Yeah, basically,” I grumbled, my shoulders hunched and arms crossed. I eyed John as he leaned against the docks, completely unfazed by the small monsoon falling on us right now. I really shouldn’t be surprised since he literally lives in water. Hell, I was almost willing to bet he didn’t even know it was raining.

“Wow, clothes are weird,” he said after a moment, a smile spreading across his face. “Cool, but weird.”

“Agreed,” I answered. “Can I go back in now?”

“Why? You just got here.” He cocked his head to the side as he asked, making me sigh in frustration.

“It’s raining you water logged idiot. Unlike you, I don’t live in water and don’t really like sitting out here getting completely soaked.”

“But you dip your feet in the water all the time.”

“That’s different and you know it!” I climbed to my feet and started down the docks back towards my house, John keeping pace with me in the water.

“But if you go back, what am I supposed to do?”

“Here’s a thought, you could go the fuck home,” I said, sounding irritated even to my own ears. I turned to face him finding a small pout on his face as he blinked at me.

“But home’s boring right now.”

“Why?”

“Well, no one’s there. They’re all out hunting and scavenging.” He looked towards his hands as he started fiddling with a small beaded bracelet I hadn’t noticed before. “I’m not really good at either so they let me just go out on my own and explore.”

I sighed, knowing there was no way I could leave this kid in the rain while he moped like this. I plopped back onto the docks right where I was standing, crossing both my arms and legs as I did so.

“So what’s this family of yours like?”

He perked up immediately, just like I knew he would. A smile spread across his face as he propped himself up on the docks once again.

“Oh they’re awesome! There’s only the four of us but I wouldn’t have it any other way really,” he say, way too happy once again. “Let’s see, there’s Dirk, who’s this super cool orange tail with a weird pair of pointy shades he refuses to take off. I think they’re human but he won’t admit it. He’s kinda in charge, at least that’s what his matesprite lets him think. We all know he’s whipped; I’m pretty sure the only one that doesn’t is him.

“Whoah, wait a second. What the hell’s a Matesprite?” I asked, actually curious, much to my own surprise.

“You guys don’t have matesprites?” he asked, looking completely amazed by this revelation. “How did humans survive without matesprites? I mean, I guess you could with kissmessises, but that’s kinda sad. No wonder you guys are so grumpy.”

“I don’t even know what the fuck a matesprite is. How am I supposed to know if we have them or not?” I all but yelled. I watched as he tilted his head again as he thought this through.

“I guess that makes sense,” he finally said after a moment, straightening his head to look back at me. “A matesprite is one of the romantic quadrants. It’s usually showed with a bright red heart, or just making a heart with your hands, like this.”

John raised his hands, shaping them into a heart before continuing.

“It’s based on love and other positive emotions. Basically they were made to love each other, because of that they could have little guppies of their own one day, if they wanted them.”

“Oh, so like marriage?”

“…What’s a marriage?”

“Were two people promise to love each other forever and never leave their side,” I answered simply. John grinned at this.

“Can they make guppies?”

“If by guppies you mean children, yes.”

“Then yes! Exactly like that!” He said happily. “So, back to my family. Dirk’s marriage is named-“

“Wife,” I corrected, getting a raised eyebrow from John. “Marriage is the union. Wife is the person.”

“Oh, ok! So, Dirk’s _wife_ is named Jake! He’s awesome too! Um…What are you doing?” He asked as I dropped my face into the docks in frustration. “You could scramble your brain doing that.”

“Jake’s a man?” I asked into the boards.

“Well yeah, that’s why his name’s Jake. Is there something wrong with that?”

“No,” I said as I sat up, rubbing my now sore forehead. “But he’d be a husband, not a wife.”

“You said it was wife.”

“Wife is for women, husband is for men.”

“You’re confusing me!” John groaned, pulling at his hair dramatically.

“Join the club,” I muttered, getting an eye roll from John. He let go of his hair, leaving it sticking up awkwardly on either side of his head.

“Anyways, Jake’s awesome. He’s a green tail who loves exploring and gathering random objects for no reason. He does all the scavenging while Dirk and Dave do the hunting.”

“Dave?” I asked questioningly, watching him grin at me once again.

“Oh, Dave’s a cool guy! He’s a red tailed Semi about my age. He’s Dirk’s little brother, and my moirail!”

“Alright, I didn’t understand half the shit you just said,” I said simply.

John opened his mouth to say something more right before lightning flashed across the sky. I looked up at it briefly, noting that it was just of the cloud-to-cloud variety, nothing too dangerous. I counted the seconds until thunder clapped through the air. _Twelve seconds, not too close then. I can stay a little longer._

Turning away from the sky, I looked back at the boy in front of me, becoming confused as I locked eyes with him. He was all but frozen in the water, his mouth still hanging open and his eyes wide.

“Are you alright?” I asked after a moment, startling him out of whatever had him so still.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine! Perfectly fine!” He sounded too forced to have been the truth. I wanted to call him out on it but he continued talking before I could still. “So, I think I’m just going to head home now. I-uh I have stuff to do there. Important stuff!”

“You just said it was going to be boring,” I said as another flash illuminated the clouds, making John jump.

“Yup, I’m going home now. See you tomorrow!” he exclaimed before diving under the water, quickly shooting out of sight.

I sat there for quite a while in confusion, until one clap of thunder sounded closer than I was willing to risk. But even as I darted up the rain slicked hill, I still couldn’t that the question out of my head. What was he so scared of that he swam home to an empty house just to get away from it?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here's your weekly chapter. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one since I had a lot of trouble writing it. And, because I had such trouble writing it, I've now pretty much caught up with myself as far as posting goes. This is the second-to-last of the back up chapters so even though I'm going to try to keep up the posting schedule, I can't promise I'll have a chapter done each week, especially if i hit another wall.
> 
> Anyways Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> ___

I wasn’t sure if he’d be there the next morning seeing as he fled pretty damn quick from the docks yesterday. But when I peeked out the window at seven that morning, he was hanging on the boards like he never left. He waved at me eagerly when he noticed I was looking. I shook my head before getting ready to head down there.

“Hi Karkat!” John exclaimed when I sat down on the docks, a pop-tart secured in my hands.

“What was that yesterday?” I asked, dipping my feet in the water before opening my breakfast.

“What was what?” He asked, looking more interested in my food than with my question. With his eyes locked securely on the foil pouch, I realized that this wasn’t going to work. So I set the pop tart behind me, getting his attention once again.

“You wigged out and ditched me,” I said, ignoring his pouty face at the hidden food. “What was that about?”

“Oh, that,” he said, finally focusing on the conversation enough to look sheepish about his actions. He scratched the back of his head, as he looked away from me.

“Well?”

“I-uh, don’t like thunderstorms,” he muttered, barely loud enough for me to hear him.

“You looked terrified,” I told him flatly.

“I _really_ don’t like thunderstorms,” he answered. I stayed silent, waiting until he looked back at me before raising a questioning eyebrow. “Fine, it’s the lightning. It can sometimes hit the water, zapping anything that’s close enough to the surface to feel it. Only safe place is deep under the water.”

“I’m pretty sure the chance lightning striking me is higher than it striking the water,” I pointed out.

“Probably, but it _could_ happen and I really don’t want it to happen to me,” he said. I stared at him for a moment as he fiddled with his bracelet.

“Whatever,” I stated simply, leaning back on one hand casually as I grabbed my pop-tart with the other. “Just wondering.”

“Why?” he asked, causing me to stop opening my pop-tart halfway. I looked at him in confusion, noting the curiosity painted across his face. His almost luminous eyes wide and innocent, but the longer I looked, the more I saw a small prankster’s glint in them.

“Were you worried about me, Karkat?” A sly grin started to spread across his face as I narrowed my eyes at him.

“That’s not-“

“You were,” he said, not giving me a chance to answer. “You were worried because we’re friends, right?”

“Alright, first of all, I didn’t say any of that. You’re putting your own stupid words in my mouth. Not to mention I wouldn’t I say anything like that, so there. And second, what are you getting at anyways?”

“Well, a friend wouldn’t let his friend starve.”

“Oh my gog, this is whole thing was just to get my fucking pop-tart, isn’t it?” I exclaimed.

“If a ‘pop-tart’ is what’s in that shiny, crinkling bag, then…maybe.”

“You’re insufferable,” I said. I wrenched the rest of the bag open, pulling out one of the pop-tarts before breaking off about a fourth of it and tossing it to him. He grinned triumphantly.

“You know,” he started once again as he bit into his piece.

“Here we go again.”

“A _good_ friend would give his friend at least half.”

“Guess I’m not a good friend,” I said right before taking a large bite out of my piece.

“And a best friend would give me the other one,” he said slyly from behind his food. I glared back at him.

“Let me clear things up for you, because your tiny brain obviously can’t comprehend what’s going on here,” I said, earning a tilt of his head in response. “No one, I repeat, no one, gets my second pop-tart. You see this? It’s a chocolate chip cookie dough pop-tart. Nothing stands up to this. Not even _real_ cookie dough! I don’t give it to anyone; not my brother, not my three friends I’ve known for years longer than you, not even the damn president! So there’s no way in fucking hell I’m giving it to you. You’re lucky you got that much.”

Once I was done, I took an angry bite from my pop-tart, more to prove my point than anything. John just floated there for a moment before getting a large grin on his face, one that was a lot less trickster like than his last.

“You have three friends other than me? That’s so cool!” He said as my face connected with my palm out of frustration.

“That’s what you got from that?” I groaned. “Yes, I have three other friends. They’re all assholes, but I put up with them. What of it?”

“I just think it’s cool, that’s all.” John looked down at his food shyly. “I’d only have three friends I counted my family.”

I stared at him blankly for a moment. He had said it so nonchalantly that he could have been talking about the weather and not admitting that I was his only friend.

“Well, they’re not really related to me so I _guess_ they could be considered just really, really good friends. Except for Dave, of course. Moirails are different after all.” He popped the rest of the tart into his mouth before turning back towards me, finally noticing my staring. “What?”

“Nothing.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry I'm a bit late. I completely forgot yesterday and then ended up with brief computer troubles today. Anyways, Here it is, in all it's glory. I have to say thanks for all the comments, kudos, and bookmarks. I'm always happy to see people taking an interest in my work. Thanks!
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> ___

“What the hell’s a moirail anyways?” I said, turning my focus onto my own food.

“It’s a quadrant, duh. Don’t you guys have quadrants?”

“Not like that.”

“You don’t have romantic quadrants?”

“I just said no. Open your ears dumbass.”

“You poor souls,” he said, placing a hand on his chest in an exaggerated sign of shock.

“Are you going to explain or just continue to act like an idiot all morning,” I asked flatly, finishing off my first poptart before starting the second.

“Fine, ruin my fun,” he pouted once again, lowering himself in the water until chin rested on the docks in front of me. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was just a severed head. “We have four romances in my world.”

“I figured that much,” I said, letting my arm rest on my knee so it could prop my head up.

“Really? How’d you know?”

“Because ‘quadrant’ means four. If it was anything else it wouldn’t be a fucking quadrant.”

“Oh. Yeah.” He at least had enough brains to figure out that he was supposed to be sheepish. “Anyways, out of those four we have the black romances and the red romances. The red ones are the happy ones, while the black ones are, well, not so happy.”

“And what does this have to do with the moirail shit?”

“I’m getting there.” John frowned at me before continuing with his explanation. “Moirail and Matesprite are red roms. Matesprite is about love while moilrail is about…well, I guess it’s about trust. They’re the one person you trust over everyone else. They know you best and use that knowledge to protect you from anything that could harm you, physically or emotionally. They keep your secrets and console you when your upset.”

“So basically a best friend,” I said. John stared at me for a long moment before answering.

“Sure?”

“Alright, glad we got that sorted out,” I stated as I finished my breakfast.

“Don’t you want to hear about the black rom?”

“Do I have to?” I almost whined.

“You’re just going to ask about it later and it would be boring if we had the same conversation twice.”

“Fine!” I exclaimed as I flopped back onto the docks, being careful not to knock my head against the wood as I did. “Explain away.”

“I’ll make it quick,” he said happily. “I’m not really a big fan of these ones anyways. The black roms are the kismesis and the auspistice. Kismesis is based on things like rivalry and hate, but also…um, lust. They can have guppies just like a maitsprite pair can, though normally the guppy lives with one of the parents instead of both. It’s better for the guppy not to live in a home full of hate and constant competition. The ones that do usually have trouble understanding red rom since they were surrounded by black rom growing up.”

“Sounds about right,” I murmured, my thoughts drifting for a moment before snapping back to the topic at hand. “And Auspistice?”

“That’s when two merfolks seem to be going down the road of kismesis but a third merfolk steps in to keep them from doing so. They keep the two from fighting so there’s not a lot of black cheating going on.”

“Why don’t you like these ones? They seem like fun to me. Fighting and yelling’s what I do best after all,” I said with a smirk.

“But it’s all so mean. Why would you want to hate someone?”

“There’s plenty of reasons to hate others,” I stated, watching the clouds pass by overhead. “Trust me on that. After all, I hate pretty much everyone.”

When I didn’t get an answer, I glanced at him to see an appalled look on his face. It took me a second to realize why.

“Platonically! It’s all platonic hate. Not your weird baby-making hate. Just plain, mess-with-me-and-I’ll-fuck-you-up hate.”

“Oh. Right. You don’t platonically hate me, do you?” John asked after a moment as he watched me with wide eyes.

“No. You’re a mild annoyance. Something I can put up with.”

“That’s good. Better than you hating me, I guess,” he said with a grin. I shook my head, dropping it down onto the docks a little too hard this time. I swore briefly, rubbing where my head connected with the wood until the pain subsided.

“Um, Karkat?” John asked once I was done. I made a noise to tell him I was listening. “Can I ask you something?”

“If it’s about the pop-tart, I already finished it.”

“No, it’s not about food. I was just wondering, are your parents kismesises?”

I sat up suddenly, making John start a bit. I stared at him for a long moment before speaking.

“Why the hell would you think that?”

“Well,” he started slowly as he began playing with his bracelet once again. “You said you hate everything and according to Dirk that’s a pretty sure sign of someone growing up in the middle of a Kismesissitude. He would know, he spent most of his youth between one; it made it hard on him and Jake early on in their Maitspritship. They vacillated for a while before finally settling. Anyways, I-I was just wondering, if you went through something similar.”

“Why do you even want to know?” I asked, a little too harshly. John winced slightly at my tone but continued anyways.

“Well, you’re my friend. But I don’t really understand you sometimes so, I thought, maybe I could better if I know the reason behind it,” he said. I stared at him for a while longer, making him more uncomfortable with each second that passed. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have asked. It was a little too personal anyways.”

I stayed silent once again; I didn’t know what to say to that. Normally when anyone asks about my family life I tell them exactly where they can shove their questions. But, this was John. He was a friend, at least according to him, and all my other friends knew of my situation. So why should I keep it from him? I sighed, laying back down on the docks once again.

“I wouldn’t know,” I finally answer after a minute or two. “I wasn’t raised by them.”

“Why not?” he asked tentatively.

“My father died before I was born and my mom followed soon after. I’ve only ever had my brother, and whatever family they decided to put the two of us with.”

“Who’s they? And why would they switch families so much?”

“The government,” I stated simply. “They have this system called Foster care, it’s where they put kids with nowhere else to go. It moves them from one family to another, hoping to find one that would be willing to put up with them long enough to get them to adulthood. And once they’re old enough, they kick them out on their ass. Most of the ones I got weren’t very nice, especially after Kankri was taken away. A few of them were similar to that kissmesis shit you were talking about.”

“Oh,” he murmured quietly. It was apparently his turn to be silent because he sat there for quite some time before speaking again. “You’re not in one of those foster families now, are you?”

“No way, my brother got me out of that fucking train wreck. Well, he had some help, but yeah. He’s my guardian now, which is all that matters really.”

“Good,” he stated, looking genuinely relieved. “I don’t have parents either, you know.”

“I figured,” I stated simply, getting a confused look from the merboy. “You already stated you weren’t related to your family.”

“Oh, yeah.” He smiled, scratching his head shyly. “Guess we’re not so different after all.”

 “You’re cheesy as hell.” I rolled my eyes at him as I placed my arms under my head as a pillow.

“Hey Karkat,” he said after a moment. I groaned.

“What now?”

“What’s cheese?”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Here's my new chapter (of course). So, just as a warning, this is the last chapter I have stocked up. It's been a pretty busy week so I ended up not working on it at all before now. If anyone knows the show RWBY, then you'll be able to recognize the difficulty involved in making Ren's coat. Which I did in about 2 days. It was fun but it didn't leave much time for writing. Anyways, I have some time to work on it this week, since I'm once again house sitting so I have no distractions. Or at least not very many. There is a whining puppy in the other room that i might have to go fetch, but other than that, I should hopefully get at least 2 chapters stocked up before next update.
> 
> Again, thanks for all the support you all are giving me! I'm always happy to see people reading my stories : )
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

Another week passed without much change from the now established norm. I was still unsure whether he was real, but by this point I really didn’t care. We mostly talked throughout the day, sharing information on our prospective worlds. I didn’t let him know, but I found his about as exciting as he found mine. I mean, it’s an entire society that’s submerged underwater, completely unknown from my world.

Apparently they mostly live in small, family groups or just on their own. They don’t even have a real city or anything. They’re just scattered around, mostly minding their own business. But it’s not complete anarchy down there, no they have this queen called a Condecance whose word is law. He didn’t go into much more detail about it than that, only stating that his own family tried to avoid politics and the like.

The one thing that stuck in my head was how their hierarches was set up. It was, for the most part, a cast system based on their fin color, or blood color since they matched for some strange reason. Red fins were at the bottom, the servants, from there it mostly followed the rainbow in order until it got to the purple fins, the enforcers or minor nobility depending on shade. The only thing higher than a purple fin was a pink fin, who were in charge. Apparently the Condecance is a pink fin, which is why she’s their queen.

I couldn’t really understand why his whole world was based on what color their tail was. It didn’t make sense. I mean, our history isn’t much better, judging others by race and skin color, but we’ve gotten better at that. The merfolk, on the other hand, haven’t even figured out that it’s wrong yet.

I tried to point this out to John, that it wasn’t right, but he just cocked his head to the side, and asked “why?” I spent the next half hour explaining it, but I might as well have been talking to a rock. He still didn’t understand it and I just ended up yelling and storming off.

After that, we pretty much avoid that topic, knowing it would just end up in another screaming match, no matter how one sided it would be. Of course I would still sometimes devolve into shouting at the fish-finned idiot, especially when he began pranking me in order to “show his affection.” Half the time now, I’d end up soaked from his splashing-me-while-I’m-not-paying-attention pranks. It was getting old. Quick.

This was also making it a lot more difficult to hide my daily activities from my brother.

“Why are your clothes wet?” Kankri wondered while he stirred the pasta. I had started it, but Kankri had to take over when I almost burned the spaghetti noodles.

“The pasta,” I answered almost immediately from my spot at the counter. I toyed with the can of pasta sauce as I waited for the noodles to get done.

“I doubt that,” he stated simply, glancing at me with a look that all but told me he didn’t appreciate the lie. “You’re already half dry. If it was from your fight with dinner, you would still be soaked. Also, I find it highly improbable that you would have had such a horrible time with it that it would cause your hair to get wet as well.”

“Fine, I went out for a bit. It rained. I got wet. Happy now?”

He was silent for a moment, stirring the pasta slowly as he thought. I held my breath as I hoped this answer would work, since I didn’t really have another one up my sleeve that was believable.

“You know I don’t like you going outside while I’m away,” he said simply, allowing me to take a breath.

“I get bored. There’s nothing to do here. I’d go insane if I stayed inside all day.”

“I know, I’m just worried.” He tested the pasta as he spoke, thinking for a moment before nodding and setting down his spoon.

“About what? We live in the middle of nowhere!”

“Technically, it is in between two small towns, but I see your point,” he said simply. He turned down the burner before straining the water out of pot.

“It’s not like I’m doing anything dangerous,” I said, kicking my feet out so they tapped against the counter. “I’m just going out and sitting there.”

“Not at the docks?” he asked, setting the pot back on a different burner so not to burn the pasta before turning towards me.

“No, why would I do that?” I asked, not looking at him as I passed him the pasta sauce. “You told me not to.”

“I know,” Kankri stated, stepping forward to take the jar. “I’m just making sure. The water’s dangerous and I don’t want to lose you to something that could have been prevented with a little caution.”

“You’re overly cautious, I get it.” I rolled my eyes. “Is dinner done yet?”

Kankri looked at me with a raised eyebrow as he paused in his struggle to open the sauce. I groaned, dropping my head to the countertop in exasperation. _Why did I have to be the one stuck with an older brother that can’t even take the top of a jar of pasta sauce?_

“I’ll be back,” he said after struggling with the top a little longer. He came back a few seconds later with a pair of rubber gloves already on his hands. Even with the extra grip, it still took him another minute until we heard the tell tail pop of the top coming loose.

“Bout time,” I muttered. “You’re an adult, how can you not open a single fucking can?”

“Language,” he chided, emptying the sauce into the pan.

“Your right,” I said, pausing a moment before continuing. “Technically it’s a single fucking _jar_.”

“Karkat.”

“Fine, sorry for using such ‘crude language’ in your presence. It was really ‘unbecoming’ of me. I really should quite cold turkey, but habits can be so difficult to break,” I said, my hands motioning dramatically as I spoke.

“I can hear your sarcasm, you know that right?” He stated flatly before turning his focus back to the pasta.

“That was the point,” I muttered, dropping my head to rest on my arms.

“I know this is all quite rough on you, what with me going to school full time and working, but that doesn’t mean you can take your frustrations out on everyone.”

“Yeah, whatever.” I didn’t meet his eyes when he turned to look at me once again. After a moment, I heard him sigh and set down the spoon once again.

“I have an idea, why don’t we go out tomorrow?” He said, out of the blue. I perked up, studying him to see if he was serious. “It happens to be a holiday so there’s no classes and I don’t need to work until later. We can go school shopping. There’s only a few weeks left until you start middle school, you know.”

“You had me till you said school.”

“Come on, Karkat. It won’t be that bad. I’ll even get you a new pair of shoes, since yours are getting a bit ratty. And, if you want, we can stop somewhere for lunch,” he said, smiling as he spoke.

“I don’t know,” I said slowly. Truthfully, even just going school shopping sounded awesome to me. I mean, it got me out of the house and I would hang out with my brother all day. The only thing holding me back right now was John. That stupid finned boy expected me by the docks every morning and if I was even just an hour late, I never heard the end of it. If I didn’t show up at all then I’d probably end up worrying him.

“I’ll let you choose where we go for lunch,” Kankri stated, ultimately making my decision for me.

“Alright, I guess it doesn’t sound too boring,” I said, getting a grin from my brother in return. After all, it wouldn’t kill John to go one day without seeing me.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a little short. I did write all week, but not quite the amount I wanted to for this fic. I had some characters giving me grief, but I think that's over with now. You'll be happy to hear that I'm bringing in some new characters for our buddy Karkat to interact with. I'm sure you can guess who by the time you reach the end of this chapter. : )
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

“Alright, I believe that was the last of your school supplies,” Kankri stated as we walked out of the small town equivalent of Staples. For some reason I stuck struggling to carry the three bags full of binders and various other school necessities that Kankri insisted were absolutely needed. My brother, on the other hand, was only carrying my new back pack and calculator we had to come here to get.

“Thank gog!” I exclaimed, making the few people walking in the street look at us strangely. “I thought we’d never leave. I was about twenty minutes away from resigning to my fate and building a small hut to live in.”

“You list said you needed this exact calculator. Details are very important,” he stated simply as we began heading back towards our car.

“It’s middle school, Kankri, not a damn university. I’m pretty sure as long as it adds and subtracts, it would have been fine.”

“I just want to make sure you are well prepared. That _is_ what good guardians do, after all.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I muttered, more to myself then to him. Kankri was silent for a moment before reaching over and ruffling my hair with his free hand.

“Hey!” I began to exclaim but was interrupted before I got very far.

“You will,” he said with a smile, then let his hand drop. I stared at him for a long moment, noting the sad look he quickly hid. It was easy to forget sometimes that he had a lot of the same upbringing as I did, the only difference being that it started after nine years of living with our parents. It’s for that exact reason that I’m certain he’s had it a lot harder than I have. He remembers them, remembers what it was like to have guardians that loved you, while I never did.

“That’s not fair,” I said after a quiet moment. “Ruffling my hair while my hands are too full to fix it. Now I have to walk halfway through this town with crazy hair and it’s all your fault!”

“If you say,” he said with a smirk. “Our last thing on the list is to stop by Astraea and get you a new outfit.”

“Why?” I asked, raising an eyebrow as we walked.

“For the first day of school,” he answered. He turned to look at me after a second, no doubt seeing my confused face which prompted him to continue. “Don’t you want to look nice?”

“Why would I care? It’s just school.”

“It’s always a good idea to give the teachers and students a good first impression.”

“Why should I? If they get the impression that I give a shit then they’ll only be sorely disappointed later on.”

“If you don’t want to wear it to school then that’s your decision, but we’re still getting you some new clothes. You could use some after all,” he said. I simply rolled my eyes in defeat. “Plus, if she heard that we were in town and did not stop by, I would never hear the end of it.”

“She? Who’s she?” When my brother didn’t answer, I sent him a suspicious glair, making him sigh.

“She is someone I have been trying to avoid for multiple reasons,” he said, not giving me much of an answer.

“Which are what?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

It wasn’t long before we were both standing in front of a small clothing shop labeled Astraea in big, curling, emerald green letters. The windows held a variety of grey manikins all wearing clothing that was either formal or scanty, if not both. Somehow I didn’t think I was going to find anything for me in there.

“Nope, not doing it. I’d rather walk into the school in nothing but a single pair of heart covered boxers than even try on anything that store has to offer,” I exclaimed, eliciting another sigh from my brother.

“That isn’t all they see here, it’s just what the owner likes to show in the window. Apparently she thinks that several insufficiently clothed manikins will bring customers into her store,” he stated simply, sounding as if he disapproved. He glanced over at me, taking in my disbelieving look. “I promise there’s something in there for you. If not we can forget about the whole thing. Sound like a deal?”

“Fine, let’s get this over with,” I said, resigning myself to the task.

“Agreed,” my brother stated, his tone matching mine.

We stepped through the doors at the same time, a bell chiming overhead announcing our arrival. I glanced around the place, taking in the emerald green walls and dark wood floorboards. There were several circular clothing racks scattered around the room as well as a few displays showing more popular items.

“Be right out!” a voice exclaimed from the back room, followed by the sound of something being moved.

“Do not rush on our account,” Kankri called back. “Please, take your time.”

The back room went silent for a long moment, making my brother shift his bags nervously.

“I know that voice,” she said a moment before walking into the main room.

The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw her was that this woman was clearly where the manikins got their fashion sense from. She was dressed in a formal looking, black halter top dress that showed of her…uh, assets with a neck line that almost reached her belly button. The bottom of the dress brushed the floor on one side while brushing up against her upper thigh on the other. Her black hair was long, coiling down passed her tattooed shoulders.

“Kankri Vantas,” she said, a small smile coming to her pierced lips.

“Porrim,” My brother stated, standing up a little straighter as he did.

I watched in confusion as the woman, Porrim, look my brother up and down, making him shift under her gaze.

“Where’s your sweater?”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! So I might have had some fun writing this scene. I mean between Porrim and Kankri's bickering and Kanaya (it's not much of a secret, honnestly) there was no way I couldn't be entertained. Tho, i will admit I had some trouble with Kanaya at first. Her dialogue just didn't seem to come out right until, for some reason, it just clicked into place. Weird.
> 
> Anyways, here's your new chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

I gawked at her in surprise as my brother sighed.

“You cannot honestly expect me to wear it all year long,” Kankri stated with a roll of his eyes. “It is the middle of August, if I wore it now, I would give myself heatstroke.”

“I labored a long time to make that sweater, Kanny. The least you can do is wear it.” Porrim placed a hand on her hip as she raised a pierced eyebrow almost challengingly.

“Please do not call me that. My name is Kankri, any deviation of such is unappreciated,” He said simply. “And I do wear the it, when the temperature is not eighty degrees in the shade.”

“If it’s too hot then why are you still wearing a long sleeve shirt?” She asked, motioning towards his bright red button up shirt.

“It is a lighter material then that thick tangle of yarn you call a sweater.”

I stared at the two, unsure of what to make of the situation. No one’s ever talked to by brother like she was, at least, no one does and gets away with it. Normally, when someone talked down to him, he was already halfway through an hour rant about manners and how to respect other’s wishes. But he was just bickering with her, for no real reason.

I was just about to interrupt him, when a light touch on my shoulder had me spinning around with a start. Behind me was a girl about my age. She was a little taller than me, dressed in a black tee-shirt and a long red skirt. Her dark brown hair was short, flipping out a little below her ears.

“Oh, apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, her British accent making her voice sound very smooth.

“It’s fine,” I muttered.

“Can I help you find something?” She asked with a smile.

“He says I need a new outfit for the first day of school,” I answered with a scowl, nodding towards Kankri.

“Of course, that’s the most important day of the school year. The correct clothing is essential for such an occasion.”

“Seriously?”

“Come along, I’ll help you find something perfect for it,” she said, motioning for me to follow her. I glanced back at Kankri, who was still fighting with the owner, though now it was over something about triggers.

“You don’t need to worry about them,” the girl said, making me turn back towards her. “They can go on like that for hours. They have quite the, let’s say, odd relationship. I doubt either of them will notice we’re gone.”

I stayed still for a moment longer before shrugging. It wasn’t like I was leaving town or anything. If Kankri needed me, he’d barely need to raise his voice. So with that thought, I put my bags next to him and followed the girl through the store.

“I’m Kanaya, by the way. Kanaya Maryam.”

“Karkat Vantas.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” she smiled back at me as she lead towards some of the more masculine clothing. “So what is it you’re looking for?”

“I don’t know,” I answered with a huff. “I don’t do fashion.”

“No offence, but I can tell,” she said. I glanced down to see what I was wearing, finding it to be a pair of jeans and my cancer symbol shirt. She must have caught me doing so because it made her backtrack. “Not that you don’t look good in what your wearing. Personally, I believe the tee-shirt and jean combination suits you quite well. It is just that it is a very common combination and if one was into fashion then they would most likely avoid it. Or at least spruce it up a bit.”

“You ramble as bad as my brother on a bad day,” I told her.

“I apologize. It is a bad habit of mine,” She straightened herself up, placing a grin on her face once again. “So is what you’re wearing something you like?”

“Yeah, I guess. I prefer long pants and sleeves but it’s too hot for both.”

“Well, both local schools tend to run a cold, so we could probably get away with both if you’d like.”

“Sure. Just nothing bright.”

“Why not?” She asked as she started rummaging through the clothing racks. “You would probably look quite good in a bright red or even orange.”

“Red’s my brother’s thing,” I said, making a face as I stuffed my hands in my pockets. “And orange? No, just no. There is not a universe that exists that I would be caught dead in orange.”

“Alright, dark colors it is.” She disappeared to the other side of the rack, almost lost completely from view.

“Black or grey. If possible.” I shifted my feet awkwardly, unsure what I was supposed to be doing. A moment later, Kanaya’s head popped up over the rack with a smirk.

“And what is the magic word?”

“I don’t know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Maybe it’s abracadabra, or wingardium leviosa. Or fucking avadakadabra! Do any of those work for you?”

“Karkat, your sarcasm is not appreciated.”

“Fine! Please. Black or grey, _please._ ”

“Now was that so hard?” Kanaya disappeared back behind the rack.

“I almost fucking choked,” I muttered to myself, though I did get a quiet giggle from the other side.

I waited a couple more minutes as she went through the racks, collecting several items she deemed worthy of a second look. It was quiet between us, but not at all uncomfortable. I probably could have stayed content in this silence all day if she hadn’t turned around, plopping the pile of clothing into my arms.

“There, go try these on. Each outfit is attached by the hangers so you shouldn’t be able to mix them up very much,” she said, already guiding me to the changing rooms.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Here's the new chapter, as cute as it is.
> 
> That's all for today.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
>  
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

I’m not exactly sure what look she was going for, but each outfit I tried on just had her shaking her head and sending me back. Even the last in the pile, a long sleeve grey dress shirt paired with a black vest and black jeans, just mad her frown.

“No, no, that’s just not right. Not right at all,” she muttered, rubbing her chin in thought. “Why don’t any of these seem right?”

I stood there quietly, not wanting to disturb her focus. After a while, I pulled my pants back into position, finding the jeans were a bit too lose. For whatever reason this seemed to jolt her out of her thoughts.

“I suppose that could be one problem. If we could get you some pants that actually fit then we might have a chance with the rest of the outfit,” she said, stepping forward to examine the pants. Before I realized what she was doing, she lifted the bottom of the shirt to get a better look at the waist line.

“Hey!” I shouted, but was ignored.

“Yes, definitely a size too large, maybe two. I should have noticed from the start, but I was so confident in the sizes I didn’t even think to check.” She stood there for a little longer, her face going from a frustrated look to one of curiosity as I felt her finger touch my torso. “What are these?”

I stepped back quickly at that, straightening my shirt over the number of bright red crescent marks I knew she was talking about.

“None of your damn business, that’s what,” I snapped, crossing my arms protectively over my chest.

“I was just curious. If you do not want to tell me, you don’t have to. Either way I won’t speak of it to anyone, I swear”

I stared at her a long moment, indecision weighing heavily in my mind. My automatic response when it comes to personal stuff is to keep it that, personal. But, for some strange reason, I felt like I could trust her. It was completely irrational; we just met ten, maybe twenty minutes ago yet, kind of like John, I felt like I didn’t have to worry.

“It’s nothing special,” I answered finally. “They’re just scars.”

“Scars?” Kanaya questioned, looking genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, what else would they be. I’m not exactly old enough for tattoos.”

“True,” she said with a nod, but she still looked skeptical. “How did you get them?”

“I don’t remember. And I don’t want to ask Kankri about it. He doesn’t exactly like talking about the past much, especially the bad shit.”

“That is understandable,” she said. She was quiet for a long moment before her face lit up as she pounded her fist into her palm. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“Can I see your shirt?” She asked eagerly.

“The one I’m wearing?”

“No, the tee-shirt you came in with. May I take a look at it really quick?”

“Sure?” I walked back into the dressing room and tossed her the shirt. “Knock yourself out.”

She immediately turned it over to look at the inside tag, a small smile stretching across her face before she carefully handed it back.

“I will be right back,” she said. Before I could question her she was already gone. It wasn’t long before she appeared back with another pair of black jeans in a different size. “Here, try this along with your tee shirt. Then put the one you’re wearing over it but leave it unbuttoned.”

“Why my own tee-shirt? Isn’t this supposed to be a whole outfit?”

“Oh it will be. Your shirt is only acting as a stand in. The one I have in mind isn’t available at this very moment.”

“Why?”

“Why don’t you try on the outfit and I’ll tell you.” Kanaya smirked at the glare I sent her way. “Off you go.”

She did a shooing motion with her hands towards the changing rooms. I rolled my eyes at her but walked into one regardless. It only took me a minute or so to change and exit the room once again. This time I was greeted with a smile as she studied my clothing.

“Yes, that is perfect,” she said happily. “The only thing that will make it better is the other shirt, but that will have to wait.”

“Will you tell me why now?’”

“Of course. It simply hasn’t been created yet.” Kanaya got closer to me, studying the fit once again. “I make my own clothes as well as put together outfits. The shirt that I’m talking about is part of my new line of shirts but I haven’t quite finished them.”

“Oh, you don’t need to make something like that for me. I’d be fine with just a regular tee-shirt.”

“Nonsense, I make shirts for all my friends about this time of year. I don’t see why you would be much different,” she said as she collected the discarded clothes from earlier.

“We’re friends now? When did that happen?”

“About the time I found out you already owned one of my shirts.” She walked by, her arms full of clothes. She must have notice my confusion because she continued talking as she set the clothes down and started hanging them up. “The Cancer shirt you’re wearing. I made that a couple years ago. It was part of my first school line that I made for my friends.”

“I got this shirt from Terezi.”

“She asked me to make one for you once she found out what I was doing. She said she had this friend that was having a hard time.” Kanaya looked back at me, but I refused to meet her gaze. “I think she wanted to cheer you up a bit, to show you that you weren’t alone.”

“You sure we’re talking about the same girl here?”

“She also told me that you didn’t have many friends and she thought the shirt might help you get a few.”

“That I can believe.”

“Well, you can’t say she was wrong exactly,” she said. I glanced back at her to find a gentle smile on her face. “After all, I believe you did get me as a friend because of that shirt.”

“So we’re only friends because of that shirt?” I asked, frowning a bit.

“At the moment, yes. But that’s simply because I don’t exactly know you yet. Give it time and we’ll probably be just as close as those two over there.”

I glanced over at my brother to see him still bickering with Porrim. She was leaning in and shaking a finger in front of his nose as Kankri was standing up straight, his arms crossed in his patented I’m-about-to-give-a-lecture, pose.

“Gog, I hope not.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! So, I know this chapter's a little short, but the next part I have isn't exactly done yet. I don't like how it turned out so I'm going to do some editing. That and if I gave you both parts now and I don't have time to write (which is possible since I'm working all week) then you won't have a chapter for next week. Anyways, I personally love how this chapter turned out. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite so far. : )
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> \---

“You’re alive!” Was the first thing I heard when reaching the docks the next day. John had been bobbing impatiently in the water from the moment he caught sight of me. He seemed to want to call to me even from my house but he somehow was able to hold off until I was actually close enough to hear him.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I questioned, kicking off my shoes before sitting down at the edge and putting my feet in the water.

“You weren’t here yesterday. And you’re _always_ here,” he said, sounding oddly serious. “I was afraid something happened to you.”

“Like what?” I asked, giving him an odd look as I opened my pop-tart.

“I don’t know! Something!” He threw his hands into the air in exclamation, splashing water all over the docks in the process. “I was here the whole day thinking those weird government people took you away again. Or you got eaten by a shark.”

“What? There’s no sharks on land, idiot.”

“And how am I supposed to know that?! You could have gotten eaten by some strange land shark and I would have never known.”

He stared at me intently for a long moment, silence between us as I realized he really had been worried. I mean, the entire time we were talking he didn’t once look at my breakfast, so that had to mean something. I sighed as I leaned back against my arm.

“My brother asked last minute if I wanted to go school shopping yesterday. And since I don’t exactly get to see him very much, I wasn’t going to turn it down. It took all day.”

“You have to shop for schools?” John asked after a moment, a confused look on his face. It took me a second to figure out why.

“Not schools of fish, like education buildings. Places where the general public sends their young to learn stuff so they themselves don’t have to teach them.”

“Oh, that’s weird,” he said, making a face. “And you need special stuff for that?”

“Yeah, a crap ton of shit that’s useless in the real world.”

“But it was important? For this school thing?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, I guess it’s alright.” He smiled happily, looking like normal once again. “I really was worried though.”

“I noticed,” I said, pulling one of the pop-tarts out of its sleeve. I thought for a few seconds, guilt pricking the back of my mind. Before I could think better of it I offered the whole pop-tart to him, all but shoving it into his face in the process. He gave me a stunned look but didn’t move to take the food.

“Sorry. For worrying you, I mean,” I muttered to him. I saw realization spark in his eyes as he gingerly took the pop-tart from my hand, as if I really was going to change my mind. “And don’t tell anyone I gave you that. You’ll start a wave of jealously across the nation. All those useless idiots that wanted my second pop-tart are going to come out of the woodwork, begging and I’m going to have beat them all off with sticks.”

“Are there really that many?” John asked with a chuckle, as he held his pop-tart.

“Millions,” I said flatly, turning my attention to my own pop-tart. John laughed again.

“You kinda sound like Dave.”

“I have a feeling that’s an insult.”

“No way! Dave’s cool! He knows a lot of cool stuff and tends to go on odd rants about it that never really seem plausible but they’re kinda funny anyways.”

“Yep, definitely an insult.”

“I’m sure you’ll change your mind once you meet him,” John said with a smile. I huffed, making him cock his head at me. “You don’t think so?”

“If he’s anything like you’re describing, I won’t want anything to do with him.”

“But he’s my moirail,” he whined as he pouted behind his food.

“Just because you have a pail romance going on with him doesn’t mean I have to like him,” I answered, taking a bite of my pop-tart in the silence that followed. “Why are we even talking about this anyways? It’s not like I’m going to meet him.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because he _lives under water!”_

“ _I_ live under water and you still meet me.”

I glared at him flatly for a moment, knowing I was beat.

“Shut up and eat your pop-tart.”

“But we were having such a good conversation!”

“Shut up or _I’ll_ eat your pop-tart.” I watched in amusement as John’s eyes went wide before quickly taking a large bite out of his food. “That’s what I thought.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! You'll be happy to know I'm now quite happy with how this chapter turned out. I still think it's a little rough but its a lot better than it was last week. I'm glad I waited. I actually added on some stuff, making this chapter the start of some future events that are going to happen. After all, the whole thing can't be just Karkat and John talking over breakfast (As cute as they are while doing so.)
> 
> Anyways, thanks for all the support (kudos, bookmarks, and the like). I'm glad you guys like it! We're almost at a thousand views which is really exciting for me. You guys are awesome!
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> ___

By the next day things had pretty much returned to normal. John was back to asking me weird questions and pulling corny pranks while I was back to sharing only a small portion of my breakfast. It was comfortable. For the most part.

I was in my normal spot, lounging on the docks, my feet in the water. John was hanging off the wooden planks just a few inches away from me. He was watching my feet kick slowly through the water, looking mesmerized by the sight.

“My eyes are up here, fuck ass,” I said. His gaze snapped up to meet mine before a grin crossed his face.

“I know!” John said happily, making me shake my head at him. _I swear, that boy wouldn’t know an insult if someone beat him over the head with it._

“Hey Karkat, you wanna go for a swim?” He asked suddenly. I blinked at him, unsure if he was serious.

“You’re not joking, are you?”

“No, why would I?” He looked a bit puzzled now but that was it. “I like to swim, you look like you’d like to swim. I mean you like the water at least, so why wouldn’t you wanna swim?”

“Because it’s dangerous.” My flat look turned annoyed as John chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

“No it’s not. I do it all the time.”

“Well, it is for humans.”

“I see humans swimming in the water all the time too. It’s not a big deal.” He waved the thought away with a free hand making me sigh.

“That’s because they have things like lifeguards with life preservers, and probably life jackets. None of which I have.”

“That’s a lot of life stuff.”

“That’s not the point!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. “The point is that without floatation devises and other people around I could fucking drown and no one would ever know!”

“Oooh,” John said with a slow nod. I waited a moment, knowing this wasn’t over. He met my eyes again, a sheepish look on his face. “Umm, what’s drown?”

“There it is,” I muttered to myself as I rubbed my temples for a moment. “Why am I the one you always ask?”

“Who else would I ask?” he replied, I groaned in response.

“Drowning is when a human tries to breath underwater and dies.”

“Why would they die?”

“Because they can’t breathe it?”

“Don’t they have gills?”

“No, that’s the point.”

John stares at me for a long moment, his brain working at what had to be a snail’s pace as he tried to process what I had told him. It was almost a minute before he spoke again.

“I don’t get it,” He replied. I rolled my eyes and tried again. I took a moment to think, trying to figure out the best way to explain the concept for him.

“Alright, how about this,” I started, straightening up as I spoke. “What happens to a fish when it’s taken out of the water?”

“It dies, duh,” John answered, unsure of where I was going with this.

“Why?”

“Because it can’t breathe air.”

“Why?”

“Why are you asking so many questions? And why are most of them just ‘why’? It’s kinda annoying.”

“Now you know how I feel!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands into the air. “Answer the question.”

“They can’t breathe air because they don’t have lungs. They only have gills.”

“So, if they’re out of water, they can’t breathe?”

“Yes?”

“The opposite is true for humans. And pretty much every other land animal. If we go under water, we can’t breathe and we die.”

“Ooh!” John looked as if a lightbulb was just turned on in his mind. His whole face light up with understanding as he grinned back at me. “I get it now.”

“Bout fucking time.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about drowning. I’m here and I won’t let you die.”

“Yes, because that makes me feel so much safer,” I said, my voice deadpan. “Let’s go swimming.”

“Really?”

“Not a chance fuckass.” I ignored the frown he gave me as I continued speaking. “My brother would already have a cow if he knew I was down here in the first place. If he found out I was swimming as well he’d kill me via five-hour lecture. And I’m actually starting to like my life so I’d rather not piss him off.”

“Sooo…does that mean you didn’t like your life before now?” John asked.

“Seriously! What is with you only picking up one sentence out of my whole monologue!? I’m trying to explain why I won’t swim and all you get out of it is that I like my life! What gives?!”

“I heard all of it, promise,” John said with a smirk. “It’s just when you say stuff like that, I know I’m never going to get the chance to ask about it unless I do it now.”

“You’re using my angry monologues to make me tell you more about myself, is that right?”

“Yes?” He said slowly. I watched him bob nervously in the water for almost a minute before I thought of something to say.

“You’re not quite as dumb as you look,” I said. John grinned for a moment before processing the entire statement.

“Hey! Not nice.”

“Do I look nice to you?”

John opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it. I was beginning to get curious about what he was going to say when he said something else.

“Well? Did you like your life before now?” He persisted.

“Oh why look at the time. I should head in now.” I climbed to my feet, ignoring John’s confused stair as I slipped my shoes back on. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“It’s not even noon yet!” He called, pulling himself up so his straightened arms were supporting much of his weight. I turned around, determined not to fall for those damned blue puppy dog eyes again.

“Bye,” I waved over my shoulder.

“But Karka-ow!” There was a loud thump followed by a splash that had me spinning around before I could remember why I shouldn’t.

 John had disappeared from where he was propped up just a moment ago. I took the few quick steps needed to reach the edge of the docks just in time to see him break through the surface again. His pout was already in full force, though not aimed at me. Instead he was frowning at the pretty large scrape he had on his forearm and the gash he now had on his chin, even though he couldn’t exactly see the last one.

“What the fuck did you do?!” I exclaimed, unfortunately getting the full brunt of those eyes in the process. I mentally cursed, knowing I wasn’t going to escape early today.

“I, um…I slipped,” he admitted. “The dock’s wet and my hand slipped off.”

“I wonder why the dock’s wet,” I said, the sarcasm in my voice turning his pout into more of a frown. “Oh wait, maybe it’s because a waterlogged merboy keeps trying to splash me at seven o’clock in the morning!”

John didn’t say anything as he frowned in to the water. I watched him for a long moment, noting that the gash on his chin was bleeding heavily enough to drip into the water, briefly turning a spot red before it dissipated. I sighed before starting towards the house again.

“I’ll be right back, I’m grabbing the first aid kit. Don’t do anything else stupid,” I said, peaking back at him to see that he was already trying to lick the wound on his elbow but couldn’t reach. “And don’t fucking lick it!”

“But I need to clean it,” he whined.

“I’m getting shit for that! Just stay put!” I said, before stomping the rest of the way off the docks and towards my home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to my writing Tumblr if you feel like looking. It's all writing stuff and updates on my stories so check it out if you'd like  
> [TBL-some Stories](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Almost didn't have a chapter to update this week. There was some shit that went down earlier in the week and I hadn't been able to do much writing until about Thursday. But I somehow got it done! Yay! Anyways, here's your chapter. The ends a little rough but I couldn't think of how to fix it right now. I may go back and tidy it up later but for now this is what you got.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> ___

A few minutes later, I returned to the dock, a small, white first aid kit and a water bottle in my hands. With a sigh, I plopped back down on the edge, crossing my legs and setting both items next to me. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw John watching me curiously while holding his scraped arm above water. I opened the kit and took a brief inventory of what we had. There was a bit of gauze, some disinfectant gel, athletic tape, a pack of bandaids, and a bottle of liquid bandaid.

I nodded slightly in approval, _I could work with this._

I ripped a bit of gauze off and wet it with the bottled water.

“Alright, come here,” I said, as I looked back up at him. He was a few feet out of reach but made no move to come any closer. “We don’t have all day you know.”

“I know, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Cleaning wounds is a moirail thing. And, well, you’re not my moirail,” he said, fiddling with his bracelet as he spoke. “If I can’t take care of my wounds myself, then Dave should.”

“Dave’s not here,” I pointed out flatly.

“I know…”

“Do you really think Dave would want you to go looking for him while you’re still bleeding? Can’t a lot of sea predators smell blood?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Alright, listen here. I’m human. ‘Moirail stuff’ doesn’t really matter to me. At least not when it comes to something like this. If I let you go out there to find Dave, you could get hurt worse, and there’s no way in hell I’m letting a friend get even more wounded over something I can fix easily,” I said. He finally looked up at me, his expression still unsure. “If it makes you feel better, I promise I’m not hitting on you. It’s just a human thing. I’d do this for any one of my useless friends if I had the chance.”

He stayed still for a long moment, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“So, are you going to come closer or are you trying to attract sharks. I kinda need to know since that’s two completely different kits.”

John cracked a smile before swimming within arm’s reach. He offered his arm first from where he was keeping it out of the water. I shook my head at him and pulled his arm a little closer to get a good look at it.

“You’re lucky. I don’t see any splinters and the bleeding’s already stopped. I probably only need to wipe it clean, maybe seal it if you want me to,” I told him before using the damn gauze to wipe the scrape off. He winced slightly but didn’t move his arm very much. Instead he watched me clean his wound with a curious look on his face.

“Why did you bring your own water?” He asked as I added more water to the gauze.

“Why were you keeping your arm above the water?” I countered before going back to dabbing the blood away.

“Salt water stings.”

“And regular water doesn’t,” I stated, catching him wince again as I worked on a slightly deeper part of the scrape. “Well, it doesn’t sting much.”

“Are you done yet?” He asked a moment before I set the gauze to the side.

“With that. I still need to seal it.” I looked back at the first aid kit, trying to decide on what I should use. Normally I wouldn’t bother putting the liquid band aid on a scrape like this, but he was going to be in the water and I doubt regular band aids were going to cut it. They probably wouldn’t even stick for more than a few minutes.

“What are those?” John pointed towards the box of band aids as I pulled out the bottle of liquid bandage.

“Just band aids,” I answered handing him the decorated box for him to examine. His eyes were wide as he gazed at the characters on it, not even bothering to look at the box’s contents. “They cover minor cuts and scrapes.”

“What’s on them?”

“Ghostbusters. I think Kankri got them on sale.” I turned my attention to the directions on the back of the bottle, wanting to make sure it wasn’t going to wash off in the salt water.

“They’re awesome! I want to use these!”

“They’re not water proof. They’ll come off in a matter of minutes.”

“But they look so cool!” He exclaimed. I glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow at the star struck boy in front of me. His eyes were almost sparkling as he gazed at the box, completely enamored. “They have laser guns and everything!”

“You don’t even know what a ghost buster is,” I told him as I took the top off the liquid bandage.

“So? It doesn’t mean they’re not super cool!”

“There’s a million other movies better than those shit fests.”

“What’s a movie?” He asked. I rolled my eyes at him in response as I plucked the box of band aids out of his hands, setting them next to me.

“I’ll explain later.” I held out my free hand, motioning for him to bring his arm closer. He did without question. “This is going to sting but at least it will keep your wound clean while your swimming.”

“I thought we were going to use the ghost busters?” He questioned with a pout.

“I’ll give you one after this stuff. Sound good?” I asked. He nodded. “Good, because it was either that or nothing.”

I turned my attention back towards the wound, making sure I had a good grip on his wrist before I applied the liquid bandage. As soon as I started, John made an inhuman squeak and tried to yank his arm away, but I was prepared for it. I kept my grip firm as I finished sealing the wound, making sure to do it quickly despite his movement. Once I let go, he darted away several feet, shooting me a pouty glair as he cradled his arm to his chest.

“That hurt!” He exclaimed.

“I told you it would, dumbass.”

“You said it would sting!”

“Yeah. Sting a lot.”

“I thought it would be like putting it in salt water.”

“I wish,” I muttered with a huff. “Now get back over here so I can do your chin.”

“No.”

“John…”

“I don’t want to. You’re going to make it hurt like my arm.”

“You’re still bleeding.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, making me groan once again. He wasn’t making thing easy for me today.

“I don’t have time for this,” I told him flatly. “I’ll give you two of the ghost buster band aids if you let me patch your chin.”

John blinked at me as a conflicted look crossed his face. I stayed quiet for a long moment, letting him think through his options. Who says I’m not courteous?

“Make it three,” He finally answered, looking at me with what was considered a mockery of a hard stare.

“Deal.”

 

-

 

“You’re really good at this,” John said as fiddled with the band aid stuck to his chin. He was currently admiring the other two attached to his forearm as I cleaned up after myself.

“I’ve had lots of practice,” I told him, as I picked up a piece of used gauze and shoved it into the now empty band aid box.

“So your other friends get hurt a lot then. Are they clutzy like me or just like to pick fights?”

I glanced at him briefly, accidentally meeting those curious blue eyes of his. I sighed.

“No idea. Haven’t actually met them.”

“Oh, then who did you patch up?”

“Myself.”

“Because you platonic hate everyone and got into fights?” he asked, a playful tone in his voice. I smirked slightly as I picked up another piece of gauze.

“Pretty much,” I answered.

I watched him for a moment as he turned his attention back towards the band aids, his blue tail occasionally peeking out of the water while he flipped it around happily. As I watched, I could feel something nagging at the back of my mind. It felt like something was out of place but I couldn’t see what.

I shook my head, trying to dispel it as I went back to cleaning up. My eyes locked on to the gauze in my hand, particularly the bright red blood stains adoring it. That’s when something John told me resurfaced, finally explaining what was nagging at me.

His blood was red, yet his tail was blue. According to John, the merfolk’s tail color matched their blood. So why didn’t John?

I looked back over at the boy in question as he played with one of his band aids.

“John,” I called, getting his attention almost immediately. “Why’s your blood red?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry this is late, I was out of town last weekend and couldn't exactly do much. I didn't intend to leave it on the cliff hanger it was on but stuff happens. Anyways, here's your new chapter. Hope you like it. It's mostly just some more world building and what not but it didn't turn out so bad.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

John stilled almost immediately, his small, happy smile disappearing almost as fast as it had appeared. He looked back at me, his face blank except for a slow, stunned blink. I had the distinct feeling that I just mentioned something very touchy, but I wasn’t going to take back the question. In fact, I elaborated it.

“You told me a while ago that a merfolk’s blood color matches their tail color, but yours doesn’t. So either you were lying to make yourself look cooler than you really are, or there’s something else going on. Either way, I don’t like being left in the dark. So out with it.”

“I-I wasn’t lying,” He murmured, his hands fiddling with a Band-Aid almost without his knowledge. “It’s just…a little more complicated than that.”

“Then explain.”

Silence followed as John looked away. I sighed, really getting tired of having to pry answers out of him.

“Truthfully, I couldn’t care less what color your blood is. It could be red, blue, orange, polka-dots, stripes, hell it could be fucking glitter glue and I wouldn’t give a shit,” I said, getting John to peak back at me. “The only reason I’m asking is because I don’t like being lied to.”

“I didn’t lie!” He exclaimed, a small pout on his face. He paused for a moment, looking around our surrounding as if to check for eavesdroppers. Apparently satisfied he turned back towards me. “Merfolk really do have blood color matching their tails, it’s just some of us aren’t completely merfolk.”

Silence followed as I tried to process what he had said, the only sound being the sea and John’s nervous fiddling.

“What?”

“You heard me,” he muttered. “Some of us aren’t fully merfolk.”

“Then what are you, part dolphin or something?”

“Eww no!” John exclaimed, scrunching his face in disgust. “That’s gross, Karkat. I meant their part merfolk and part human.”

“Alright, I’m calling bullshit on that one,” I said after a moment, crossing my arms across my chest.

“It’s true!”

“It’s not even physically possible.”

“Yes, because befriending a single merman a few weeks ago has definitely given you ultimate knowledge about what’s physically possible for the entire species,” John pointed out flatly as he crossed his own arms.

“Don’t be smart with me John, I’m better at it than you,” I said. John only rolled his eyes before continuing.

“Anyways, I’m pretty sure there was a way for a full merfolk to get legs for a little while so it’s possible.”

“’was’? As in, there isn’t now?”

“According to Jake, the Condescension banned it, but that’s not the point. My point is that they exist. Or, _we_ exist. A merfolk with a close human ancestor, like a parent or grandparent, always have red blood for some reason. It’s the only way you can tell for sure, well, if their tail doesn’t match that is.”

“So you’re trying to tell me that you’re half human?”

“A quarter. One of my grandparents were human. I think. I don’t really remember much before Jake and Dirk began raising me. But I know I’m only a quarter.”

“And how do you know that?”

“There’s ways of telling,” he said simply, his hands already back to fiddling, but this time with his bracelet. “A regular semi like Dirk and Dave look more human than I do.”

“Semi?”

“That’s what we’re called. Semi. Because we’re only halfway in each world.”

“You make it sound like they have a choice to stay in the water,” I stated, frowning when he didn’t automatically correct me.

“Well, they kinda do,” he said after a long moment. “We can gain legs a lot easier than a full merfolk. All Dave needs to do is to climb out of the water and let his fin dry. Then ‘poof’, he has legs. Well not exactly poof, but the change is pretty quick, and mostly painless. He says it feels like that really uncomfortable tingling you get when your arm’s asleep.”

“If that’s true then why haven’t you gotten out of the water?” I asked. John looked away from me, his hand now plucking at his bracelet quicker than before. I was kind of worried he was going to break it, but the beads were strung on some sort of stretchy material that held up to his nervous tick.

“I, um…I can’t. Not really. I mean, I could…but it would be a lot more painful than that for me. And I might not, turn back. I’m more Merfolk then Dave, so I have more merfolk traits that would have to change.” He glanced at me briefly, wiggling his webbed fingers to accent his words. “Because of that, I have a harder time gaining legs. In fact, it gets harder the more I do it until my body will refuse to change. And…well, I …changed…a lot when I was younger so, I don’t know how many I have left.”

“Oh,” I said. In fact it was all I could think of saying. I mean, there was obviously some sort of story behind that last statement alone, and I could tell that it wasn’t a pretty one. Unlike earlier I didn’t feel this was something he needed to tell me. I mean, if I tried, I could probably convince him to tell me the rest of it, considering how open he is with most things. But if my time in the foster homes taught me anything it was that somethings are better left unsaid. And judging by how badly he was picking at that bracelet, this was one of them.

We were silent for a long while after that, which seemed to make John more nervous than he already was. After a bit, I realized that it was because he was probably afraid I wasn’t going to accept him, or that I was going to think less of him. It was stupid, and I had opened my mouth to tell him just that when I heard the sound of my brother’s unmistakably shitty car pull into the driveway.

“Shit!” I exclaimed, looking my phone for the time, which read a little after noon. “I forgot my brother was coming home for lunch.”

“Doesn’t he go straight to work?” John asked, as I quickly collected my items.

“Yeah but he last class was canceled so it gave him an extra hour or so. Naturally that means checking in on me. I’ve gotta go.”

“Oh, ok.” John sounded put out, which make me pause.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow. Alright?”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, dip shit.” He didn’t look convinced. I sighed. “Look, if I had the time right now, I’d explain exactly why your current train of thought is so fucking stupid. But that’s going to have to wait till tomorrow because if I’m not in the house by the time my brother is, I won’t be able to come back.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” John asked, a small trickster’s grin on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him before darting back towards my house.

I didn’t bother to run around the front of the house, instead running straight towards my open window. Just as I reached the sill, I could hear Kankri’s keys jostling the lock of the front door. Cursing quietly, I tossed my shoes and the first aid kit inside before climbing in myself.

“Karkat! I’m back!” he called over the sound of the squeaky door opening. I kicked my stuff under the bed before leaving my room as calmly as if I hadn’t run fifty yards up a hill and hauled myself through a window.

“What took you so long?” I asked as I came into the living room. “I’m starving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! I'm back again! I thought I was going to have a lot more trouble with this chapter than I did. But, somehow I didn't. It's not turning out exactly how I imagined it but I'm liking it regardless. I'm introducing another character this chapter and he gave me a little grief but I think i was able to fix most of what I didn't like about him.
> 
> ANyways, I just wanted to say real quick that you guys are awesome! Thanks for the almost a hundred kudos, along with all the bookmarks and comments. It makes me happy to see that there are others liking this story as much as I do.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

The next morning I went through my routine as I always did, get up, make sure I had clean clothes, then check to see if John was at the docks yet. And I would have continued with that routine if John was actually where he was supposed to be. My brow furrowed as I studied the docks for any trace of him, there wasn’t, but there was some blond dude sitting on the end of it.

_Who the fuck is that?_ I wondered, squinting to try to get a better view, but to no avail. Frowning, I gathered my clothes and quickly got changed before shoving a poptart in my pocket and heading out towards the water. Whoever this was had some explaining to do.

As I walked, I studied the figure down below, noticing more details as I got closer. He was wearing a white tee-shirt and what looked like skin tight tan pants. His hair was more of a golden blond than I noticed before and styled in a shaggy/cool kid sort of way. It immediately pissed me off.

My foot hadn’t even touched the dock yet when the mystery guy turned around to face me. I froze when I realized that the “skin tight tan pants’ I thought he was wearing, weren’t pants at all.

“The fuck!? You’re naked!”

“No I’m not,” the guy said, a snarky tone to his voice that immediately rubbed me the wrong way.

“You’re not wearing pants,” I said, glairing at him. I couldn’t really tell if he glared back since his eyes were hidden behind a pair of obnoxious aviators.

“That doesn’t mean I’m naked. I have a shirt.”

“Put some pants on!”

“Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?” He said with a smirk.

“It’s just wrong! A person can’t walk onto a stranger’s property without pants. I could call the cops on you, have you locked up for public indecency. Not to mention it’s just fucking rude.”

“Oh, and your language isn’t? Calling me rude when all you’ve done is shout and swear at me, kinda hypocritical dude. But I’m getting sidetracked. I came here for a reason and it wasn’t to argue about pants. Though if you’d like to pick it up later, it would love to verbally kick your pant-covered ass.” Despite his words, it didn’t take a genius to tell that he was goading me into continuing the argument.

“Who are you anyways?” I ground out through clenched teeth instead. I desperately wanted to shout at the other kid some more but it wouldn’t do much good if I didn’t know who I was shouting at.

“What? My cool demeanor and stunningly good looks didn’t give me away? I’m surprised. I thought John would have at least mentioned me enough to be recognizable,” he said, making me narrow my eyes at him. He knew John, and was probably quite of close to him if he thought John would have mentioned him. With John’s limited number of friends, it didn’t take me long to figure out who was now sitting on my docks.

“Let’s see, a sarcastic prick with an inflated ego, you must be Dave,” I said, smirking at the small twitch of his barely visable eyebrow.

“And you’re Karkat, a loud asshole with an insult for every occasion.”

“Thanks for noticing. It took a lot of work to get where I am. Maybe one day you’ll catch up,” I said in response. “Though I guess this explain your lack of pants.”

“You took too long and my fin dried off. If you had gotten here earlier you wouldn’t have had this problem,” he said as he climbed to his feet a bit unsteadily. His tee-shirt, which seemed to have some weird broken record logo on it, was just long enough to keep him from being indecent. It actually looked like he was wearing a really short dress, which was quite amusing to say the least. “Regardless, I wanted to talk to you. About John.”

“Is this the stay-away-from-my-boyfriend-or-I’ll-end-you talk? Because if it is, I’m going back inside. I have better things to do than be threatened by a fish freak like yourself.”

“Not exactly. Why was John hurt?”

“What?”

“John came home hurt yesterday. Why?”

“First off, I don’t answer to you. Never have, never will. So I don’t see why you think coming to my house and demanding answers is going to get you anywhere. Second, you’re John’s Moirail or whatever, which, judging by the amount he talks about you, is a pretty big deal for him. I’m sure he’s already told you the whole story in exaggerated detail, half of which were just descriptions of the fucking bandaids.”

“He really was impressed with those band-aids,” Dave said simply as he walked up the docks towards me. “I’m asking because John, as trusting as he is, tends to hide things to protect people he thinks are friends. That means, for example, if you deliberately hurt him yesterday and then patched it up to hide the evidence, he might have told me he slipped on the docks.”

“You think I hurt him,” I stated, crossing my arms as I met his stare. Or tried to. He was close enough now that I could just make out his eyes if I squinted enough but it still wasn’t much better than before.

“I said ‘for example.’ Though if you want to admit your part in it, I wouldn’t stop you.”

“The only thing I’m guilty of in that whole ordeal is making sure your boyfriend didn’t leave a blood trail all the way home. Everything else he miraculously managed on his own.”

“Somehow I don’t believe you.”

“What a fucking surprise! Quick! Stop the presses! We have a new front page story. ‘Self proclaimed cool kid doesn’t believe the truth.’ What a shocker. Our readers will love it. Oh wait, I’m sorry. We’re already running too many stories like that as it is. Try again next week,” I said, making him raise an eyebrow. But I wasn’t done. “As for what happened, I’ll explain it in simple terms so I don’t lose you. I don’t answer to you!”

“Are you normally this angry or am I just special?”

“Fuck off. I hate everyone.”

“Everyone? Wow, must be fun trying to keep all those kissmesis’ straight.”

“Platonically!”

“Sure, I totally believe you,” Dave said simply, sarcasm lacing itself through his words.

“You know what? I’m done. Get off my docks.” I pointed towards the water angrily but the blond asshole didn’t move.

“No.”

“Get off them. Now.”

“Not until I have my answer.” Dave crossed his arms to mirror my pose which only pissed me off even more.

“Get off them or I’ll throw you off them,” I growled in response.

“No you won’t.”

“Don’t try me you insufferable prick. I’ll kick your ass back into that water so fast you’ll get whiplash.”

“Even without pants?” Dave asked with a smirk.

“Even without pants!”

We stared each other down for quite some time, both of us waiting for the other to break. I had to admit, he was stubborn, maybe even as stubborn as me. The way things were going right then, I had no doubt that we would have stood there all morning, if not for an unexpected interruption.

“Sorry I’m late Karkat! Jake asked me to…” John’s voice faltered as both Dave and I looked towards where he just popped up to our left. “Dave? What are you doing here? And aren’t you supposed to be wearing pants?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Sorry this chapter's a little short but there wasn't much left I could do. This half of the chapter went in a completely different dirrection than I had originally planned but I kind of like it. Unfortunately that means I had to skip a scene that would no longer make sense. But oh well. This is what happens when you're writing it as you go.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

Dave and I glanced at each other briefly, wordlessly coming to the decision that this wasn’t something John needed to know about. As much as the bastard pissed me off, I didn’t feel like I needed to drag John into the middle of it, and apparently Dave felt the same way. After all, John already said he didn’t like those hate quadrents and if he knew how close I was to launching the blond into the water than he’d probably take it the wrong way. Even though he knows damn well I’m human and don’t follow those stupid things.

Dave turned back to his Moirail, covertly moving a step or two away from me and towards John.

“Pants? Why would I need to wear pants?” He asked. “I’m pretty sure only people insecure with themselves go around with pants.”

“I’ve been watching humans a lot, and they’re all wearing pants. Or at least skirts. I’m pretty sure it’s some sort of law or something. So if you’re going to be out of the water you should probably be wearing some.”

“Listen to your moirail, Dave. He’s actually being smart for once,” I said, earning what I assumed was a dirty look from the blond.

“Hey, I’m very smart, thank you very much,” John pouted briefly.

“The shirt’s long enough to cover myself. There’s no need for the confines of pants.”

“Dave, I can see your butt from down here. It’s really weird. So can you please put on some pants, or at least get back into the water?”

“Fine, if you insist,” Dave said with a sigh. He took a few quick steps towards John before doing a short dive over the blue finned boy’s head. About thirty seconds later he resurfaced a few feet away from John. “Better?”

“Whipped,” I murmured, hiding the word in a cough while earning a glare from Dave. Or, I assumed it was a glair from the way his eyebrows disappeared behind his shades. John just looked at me confused, cocking his head to the side as he did.

“Did you just say whipped?” He asked, which made Dave’s eyebrows shoot back above his shades again.

“No,” I answered after a moment.

“Why did you say whipped?”

“Ask your Moirail.” I smirked as John turned to the blond who still looked kinda stunned at the suggestion.

“Well? Why did Karkat say that?” John waited for a long moment as Dave tried to think of something.

“Oh, why look at the time,” Dave said, holding up an empty wrist to examine. “Dirk’s expecting me. Have to go.”

“But Daaavvveee-“ John whined, only for his moirail to disappear under the water with a flash of a dark crimson tail. “Jerk.”

“Glad we agree on something,” I muttered as I sat down on the docks in front of John.

“So, are you going to tell me what you meant?”

“Nope.” I pulled out the poptart, watching as John’s attention went immediately to the foil package.

“I’m going to keep asking you about it,” he said, a troublesome glint in his eyes that only meant one thing.

“Let me guess, you’re going to keep asking until unless I give you half my pop-tart, right?”

“Yup!”

I groaned as I opened the wrapper, pulling out the first one and breaking it in half.

“Here, knock yourself out,” I said as I tossed it at him. He fumbled with it, almost dropping the food and bumping into the docks at the same time. “Not literally, idiot. I’m pretty sure your moirail will kill me in my sleep if you come back wounded again.”

“No way, Dave’s cool.” As John spoke, a blond head popped out of the water a few yards behind him. Dave raised a hand, pointing two fingers at his glasses before pointing one at me. I check to make sure John as thoroughly distracted before holding up a middle finger in response and then pointing it at him.

“That makes me feel so much better,” I said as Dave sunk back into the sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Happy (early) Halloween! I hope you like this chapter, it has some brotherly bonding time and you finally get to know what Kanaya's shirt looks like! If anyone wants a visual, i drew it a while ago and posted it to DeviantArt. Here's my [cute little link](https://twicethetrouble.deviantart.com/art/Karkat-Merau-712402265?ga_submit_new=10%3A1509330073) if you want to check it out.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

“Are you excited?” Kankri asked over dinner one night. It was almost a week after Dave had made his appearance and things had pretty much returned to normal. Or as normal as one could get when their day involved talking to a merboy for most of it. I’d occasionally see a familiar blond head pop up several yards away as if he was checking in but other than that there was no change.

I popped my head up from my plate of fries and a burger, Kankri had a veggie burger but he knew better than to try to make me eat them. I gave him a confused stair that had him shaking his head good manneredly.

“Schools starting next week. Are you excited?” He explained.

“Fuck,” I exclaimed, realizing he was right. That meant I literally spent the entire summer talking with a waterlogged moron that I wasn’t sure was real. Though, by now I pretty much accept that he is because it’s a lot easier. If I turn out to be wrong, then I definitely belong in an asylum.

“You could have just said no,” Kankri sighed, snapping my thoughts back on the matter at hand. “There are other alternatives to swearing that don’t immediately offend people.”

“Sorry,” I muttered as I used a fry to push around my other fries.

“You do know that school doesn’t put up with swearing on their grounds.”

“I’m well aware that my verbal freedoms are being chucked out to of the window and shot by a twelve gage like a pheasant during hunting season. Why do you think I’m not looking forward to it? It’s not as if I have anything fun to do here. But I like swearing without being yelled at, and texting my friends when I want to, and not getting in trouble for stupid shit like having to use the damn bathroom when I don’t have a pass. It’s a moronic institution that shouldn’t fucking exist.”

“I know-“ Kankri tried to say but I was on a roll and wasn’t going to stop now.

“They don’t even teach what we need to know, Kankri! It’s all sophisticated literature and calculous! You can’t use that in real life! I’ve seen wheel-less cars with more use than that shit. The only thing you need calculus for is fucking rocket science and I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be a rocket scientist! And literature? Literally the only thing you need that shit for is if you want to teach it. It’s just a never ending cycle of fucking literature! It has no use!”

“I understand,” he said as I paused to take a breath. In fact, I agree wholeheartedly that public school are useless, but there isn’t much we can do. Trust me, if I could homeschool you I would but that just isn’t feasible at the moment.”

“It would have at least been bearable if my friend were in the same school.”

“Speaking of friends, I completely forgot,” he said as he left the counter and went to where his school bag was hanging by the door. I watched him curiously as he unzipped the top and started searching its contents. “Your new friend Kanaya stopped by the café today with the rest of your school outfit. Unfortunately, I was so thoroughly distracted by Porium at that time I forgot I had it.”

I perked up considerably as he said Kanaya’s name. I hadn’t heard much from her since we visited the shop even though we had exchanged numbers. She was keeping busy at her cousin’s shop while I was trying not to let John and his moirail drive me insane.

After a moment of searching, he pulled out something wrapped in a black grocery bag from his pouch. He smiled triumphantly as he walked across the room and handed it to me.

“She didn’t charge us for it either, which was quite nice of her I think.”

“Yeah,” I said, already distracted. There was a small note taped to the front of the bag. The font was pretty, and written in a bright green pen that read:

_“To Karkat,_

_I Hope This Makes Your First Day Of School A Little Better Than It May Have Been. Remember, First Impressions Are Important._

_Sincerely Kanaya”_

I smiled lightly before opening the bag and pulling out its contents. It was a black tee-shirt, similar to the one I was wearing the day at the store, complete with an emerald green Virgo sign on the tag. But that was where the similarities stopped, because the design on the front was ten time better. The Cancer constellation was emblazoned there in a bright, candy red. Each star was made out of this strange material that, if it caught the light right, made them look like they glowed. They were even connected by bright red lines so to see the constellation better. All in all, it was gorgeous.

“Wow, that is beautiful work,” Kankri said as he studied the shirt over my shoulder. “She should have charged us for a shirt of such high quality. She made this, right?”

“Yeah, she made my other Cancer shirt too.”

“She has quite a talent.”

“Yep,” I said simply, placing the shirt carefully back into the bag it came in.

“I’m glad you’ve chosen such a good friend.”

“I didn’t choose her, she saw my shirt and decided it for me.” I pouted dramatically while my brother nodded.

“It must be a Maryam trait,” he said as he sat down on his seat once again. “I’ve never known any others who have decided such things on their own and because of clothing.”

“Why did Porrim choose you as a friend?” I asked curiously, smirking slightly at his perturbed frown.

“At five she saw me wearing what she called ‘the ugliest Christmas sweater known to man’ and decided that I needed help,” he grumbled as I tried not to laugh. “To this day, I’m being punished for what my father decided to dress me in for that Christmas party.”

At that I couldn’t keep from laughing any longer. Kankri gave me a dirty look but it only made me laugh harder.

“I’m glad to see you’re amused by my suffering. Our parents were too at time, so you come by it well.”

“You don’t need to be so dramatic,” I said around my fading chuckles. I set the bag on the table so I could finish my food. “Porrim isn’t that bad.”

“You haven’t been forced to deal with her for sixteen years,” he muttered as he turned back to his own dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! I'm getting even more excited about this fic than I have been, mostly because Karkat's starting school in about three chapters. That means I get to write him somewhere other than at home or on the docks! There's also a few other reasons I'm excited for his schooling but I'm keeping those under my hat for the time being.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

“But why?” John all but whined at me. It was the next day and apparently John was taking offense to our conversation. I rolled my eyes as I swished my feet through the water slowly.

“Because I have no choice. You either go to school or get home schooled,” I tried to explain but from the confused look on his face, I wasn’t getting very far.

“The second one sounds better. Why not do that one? It at least has home in it.”

“I can’t because my brother has his own classes.”

“What does that have to do with home schools?”

“I can’t teach myself idiot.” I raised an eyebrow as John’s confusion turned into more of a pout. He dropped down in the water about a foot so it was now covering everything up to his nose. “And now your moping. Why are _you_ moping? I’m the one that’s being forced to go.”

John tried to answer but from under water only blubbering and some bubbles made its way to the surface, neither of which Karkat could understand.

“What?” Karkat asked. John tried again but louder. Karkat sighed. “Will you stop dicking around and get your head out of the water. I can’t understand a fucking thing you’re saying.”

John rolls his eyes but diligently raises a few inches so his mouth just clears the water.

“I said that you won’t get to see me anymore.”

“And that’s why you’re moping?”

“Yes,” John mutters into the water.

“That’s stupid,” I said, getting his eyes back on me in surprise. “The bus won’t be here till almost seven thirty. You tend to be here by six thirty. That’s an entire hour of visiting just before school starts. That plus the fact that I’ll be getting home hours before my brother does will mean we get to talk then too. There’s also weekends, two days out of seven that I don’t go to school at all.”

“So I still get to see you?”

“Duh, I’m not going to ditch one of the few friends I have just because I have something to do during the day. That’s just wrong.”

John studied me for a long moment as if he was trying to figure out if I was lying or not. After about thirty seconds or so he smiled brightly and came up out of the water a bit more.

“Ok!” He said, his voice having that impossibly happy tone that only he could create. “So when are you going to school?”

“Next Thursday.” I saw him open his mouth and decided to stop him before he could even start. “Thursday is what we call the fifth day out of the week. Today is Friday, the day after Thursday. After that we have Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before getting back to Thursday.”

Understanding dawned brightly on John’s face in the form of a silent “oh”. He then hurriedly started counting on his fingers before stopping once he got the answer he sought.

“But that’s only five days away.”

“Six if you count today.”

“That’s not very many.”

“Brilliant deduction there Sherlock. What else do you got?” I said as I leaned back, using an arm to prop me up.

“Shouldn’t you have stuff to do to get ready?” John asked, crossing his arms across the dock before resting his head on them.

“Nothing I care to do. I’m not some nerd that’s excited to go, if you haven’t noticed. I’d rather go crazy from boredom then step one foot into that place.”

“What about your other friends? Aren’t you excited to see them?”

“If they were going to the same one then yeah. It would at least make the place marginally more tolerable.”

“There’s more than one?!”

“No. Every child in the world is sent to one school that has a million teachers and takes place in a building the size of New Hampshire.”

John was quiet for a moment, squinting at me suspiciously.

“How big’s New Hampshire?”

I groaned, throwing my head back as if the sky would give me answers. This kid was going to be the death of me. Or at least my logic, I was sure.

“There’s more than one. There has to be. Even these two towns, Prospite and Derse, each have their own schools” I explained before lifting my head back to its normal position.

“Which one are you going to?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. Whichever one comes to pick me up Thursday.”

“Then how do you know you’re not going to be with your friends?”

“Fine. I _did_ know when they first sent out the letters. But I was pissed when I found I wasn’t going to the same one and didn’t bother to remember the name.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” John said, nodding sagely as I glared at him.

“And what the hell was that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing!” he answered in a sing song voice. He gave me a large innocent grin that I didn’t believe for a moment. “So tell me about your friends. I don’t think you’ve said much about them other than they’re your friends, and there’s three of them.”

“Four now, apparently. Counting you, it’s five.”

“You made another friend? Is it Dave?”

“Hell no! That guy hates my guts. Platonically. And the feelings are platonically mutual.”

“You use the word ‘platonically’ a lot.”

“I’m just making sure you’re not jumping to conclusions, dumbass,” I told him, getting a scrutinizing gaze in return. After a long moment, he shrugged and went back to his smiling.

“Ok, I don’t really like you hating my moirail though,” he said finally. “Even if it is platonic.”

“Let me explain something to you, John. Dave and I are complete opposites. We’re not supposed to get along. Honestly, if he wasn’t your moirail, I would have drop kicked him back into the ocean within the first minute of meeting him. But you’re my friend, and he’s important to you, so I put up with him.”

“But you’ve only met him the once,” John said slowly, as if his mind was catching up with his brain. He then perked up considerably. “Maybe he’s not as bad as you think.”

I thought back on the number of one finger salutes Dave and I have traded over the last week when John didn’t know he was there.

“Yeah, I doubt that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! i'm back! Thank you all for the comments, kudos, and bookmarks. You guys are fantastic! I'm happy to see that you guys like this story as much as I do. : )
> 
> Just a brief warning, I might not have a new chapter next week. I've been trying to do a watered down version of NaNoWriMo for a different fic so with all my focus on that, i haven't been able to give this fic the attention it needs. I'll try to have one ready but we're starting to get into some new stuff plot wise that I really want to do justice and not rush through.
> 
> Thank you for your patience!
> 
> Hope you enjoy,   
> TBL
> 
>  
> 
> -

“But Karkaaaat,” John whined.

“I thought you wanted to hear about my friends.”

“I do!” He exclaimed, hopping a bit as he spoke. “But-“

“It’s either I talk about them or we talk about Dave. I’m not doing both.”

He paused for a while, his face scrunched up as he tried to decide. He sighed, dropping his head to rest on his arms again.

“Who are your friends?”

“Good choice. If you said Dave I was going to walk,” I said, getting an annoyed look in return.

“I thought as much,” he answered with a roll of his eyes.                      

“So, my friends,” I started, stalling a bit in order to figure out how I was going to do this. “I guess we can start with Sollux, he’s not horrible.”

“Do you anything positive about anyone?”

“I just said he wasn’t horrible, didn’t I? That’s positive.”

“Barely.”

“As I was saying, Sollux is this tech nerd who likes to hack my phone. He pretty much knows everything, and if there’s something he doesn’t know, he can find it out pretty quick. He’s hard to deal with sometimes though. He has this thing called bipolar disorder where he can be alright one day but the next be either hyper or depressed for a week or so. Because of that he doesn’t really sleep much, but neither do I so we text each other when that happens.”

“Text?”

“Sending small letters over my phone that he reads a few seconds later and then sends one back.”

“Oh! Ok. He sounds pretty cool.”

“Didn’t I just say that?”

“No, you said he wasn’t horrible.”

“Same thing,” I said. John rolled his eyes again but didn’t say anything else. “I guess Terezi’s next. She’s this psycho that’s obsessed with dragons, law, and licking colors. I’m not sure why the last one, but she insists it’s awesome and that red tastes the best.

“Gamzee’s her twin brother and acts almost the complete opposite. He is the most laid back individual you could ever meet, as long as you don’t piss him off. I heard from Terezi that he caught some kid bullying her and ended up sending him to the hospital. Otherwise, he acts like he’s drugged even though the only thing he could be on is Faygo.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by drugged. Or Faygo,” John admitted after a few seconds.

“All you need to know is that he acts chill, all the time. And it sometimes pisses me off.”

“Ok, what about your last friend. Is that the new one?”

“Yeah, and the only one I remember meeting,” I said. John looked at me in confusion, so I explained. “I met Sollux, Terezi, and Gamzee when I was about four or five. I don’t exactly remember it very well, just that they were there, and we were driving somewhere in a really cramped car. After that I didn’t talk to them again until I got my phone and Kankri gave me their numbers. I was maybe nine. Since then I’ve only been able to call or text them.”

“That’s sad!” John exclaimed, giving me the most pitiful look I’ve ever seen. “How could you go that long without seeing your friends?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice.”

“Oh, right.”

“Anyways, my last friend is Kanaya. She’s nice and kind of obsessed with fashion. I just recently learned she made my gray Cancer shirt years ago. She kind of adopted me as her friend, partially because I owned that shirt, and partially because my brother and her cousin are pretty close.”

“That’s so cool! And how close is pretty close? Are they like maitsprites or something?”

“No, I think it would be closer to Moirails, with some platonic kissmisstude thrown in,” I explained. John gave me a weird look. “It’s a weird relationship. They care about each other like Moirails, but go about it hostilely. Last time I saw them both in the same room she was yelling at him for not wearing the sweater she made.”

“Humans are so weird.”

“You have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thanks for your patience last week, you guys are awesome! I just finished the new chapter, it's a little different then I was expecting but not too much. I actually like how it turned out.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

“Do you have everything?” John asked early Thursday morning. It was about 6:45 in the morning, according to my watch and I was sharing my breakfast with him like I always do. The only difference was that I had an overstuffed backpack sitting next to me.

“Yes,” I groaned, rolling my eyes as I took a bite of my pop tart.

“Do you have your lunch?” He pressed, obviously not letting this go.

“Yes.”

“Your writing stuff?”

“Yes.”

“How about Jim’s clothes?”

“They’re called gym clothes and yes, I have them.”

“What about-“

“John,” I interrupted. “I have everything. Trust me, or at least trust Kankri since he did this exact same check last night.”

“Oh,” he muttered, fiddling with his bracelet once again. “I guess you’re alright then.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Now, are you done asking about whether I have shit or not?”

“I guess,” he mutters, watching his bracelet spin around his wrist before looking back at me. “Is school any fun?”

“No. It’s hell. Literal hell.” I answered, my free hand waving in emphasis. “Seriously, if I died today and went to the real place, it would be a class room. I’m pretty sure the only difference would be the amount of flames and my teacher would probably have horns.”

“So it’s not fun?”

“Not unless you think condescending adults and asshole teens are fun.”

“But you learn new stuff, right? That sounds like fun to me.”

“Well it’s not. The only way that could be fun is if they actually taught us stuff we wanted to learn, or at least needed in life. Seriously, if they could just teach me what taxes were and exactly why they need to be filed every year then I wouldn’t actually mind.”

John stared at me for a long moment.

“What are taxes?”

“That _is_ the question,” I said, popping the last bite of my poptart into my mouth and stowing the rapper into my pocket. I looked back at John to see him looking off into the distance, a confused look on his face. “What are you doing now?”

“What did you say a school bus looked like?” John asked out of the blue.

“A long, yellow box with wheels.”

“Like that?” John asked, pointing in the distance. I followed his finger to see what was indeed a school bus starting up the hill and towards my house.

“Shit!” I exclaimed, pulling my feet out of the water and quickly shoving them into my shoes. I knew I was going to regret this later but I couldn’t really be bothered right now. “It’s not supposed to be here for another thirty minutes!”

I quickly grabbed my backpack and launched it onto my back before sprinting up the hill myself.

“Good luck at school!” John yelled up at me. “And try not to kick anyone’s ass! Unless they deserve it!”

“No promises!” I shouted back over my shoulder before straightening up and sprinting even faster. I just made it to the end of the driveway just as the bus was coming to a stop. The door opened and I glared at the bus driver.

“You could have warned me you were coming early,” I told him, a bit out of breath from the run up. I ignored his confused look as I climbed up the stairs and plopped down in the first empty seat. I set my backpack next to me in the universal sign of “this seat is mine.” There weren’t many people on this bus but I was pretty sure that was going to change soon. It was still early after all.

The bus long bus ride to school was made even longer by the frequent stops to pick up random kids. I didn’t bother to watch them enter the bus, deciding to spend my last bit of free time texting my friends instead of people watch.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** FUCKING HELL. I’M NOT READY FOR THIS SHIT TODAY.

**TerminallyCapricious:** KaRbRo! WhAt Is Up My MoThErFuCkIn BeSt BrO?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** WHAT IS UP? I’LL TELL YOU WHAT’S UP! I’M BEING FORCED OUT OF MY GOG DAMN HOUSE AND THIS UNGOGLY HOUR BECAUSE SOME ASSHOLES IN SUITS THINK I’M NOT SMART ENOUGH TO FUNCTION IN SOCIETY. THAT’S WHAT’S UP! NOT TO MENTION THE DAMN PRISON BUS CAME EARLY! NOW I’M GETTING HAULED OFF WITHOUT MY LAST HALF HOUR OF SHOUTING FUCK AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS WITHOUT GETTING INTO TROUBLE!

**GallowCalibrator:** LOOKS L1K3 SOM3ON3 WOK3 UP ON TH3 WRONG S1D3 OF TH3 B3D TH1S MORN1NG

**CarcinoGeneticist:** FUCK OFF TEREZI. I HAVE NO WRONG SIDE OF THE BED. EVERY SIDE OF THE BED I WAKE UP ON IS EQUAL PARTS RAGE AND EXASPIRATION FOR HAVING TO LEAVE IT SO DAMN EARLY.

**twinArmageddons:** you’re preachiing two the choiir kk.

**GallowCalibrator:** YOU SOUND H4LF D34D, SOLLUX.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** YOU CAN’T HEAR TEXT MESSAGES. IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT.

**GallowCalibrator:** 1T DO3S TOO! YOU’R3 JUST NOT COOL 3NOUGH TO KNOW 1T.

 

I shook my head at that. Sometimes I can’t understand that girl and right now was one of those times.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** WHATEVER. I’M TOO TIRED TO DEAL WITH THIS SHIT.

**twinArmageddons:** yeah, how are you thii2 hyper riight now?

**TerminallyCapricious:** ShE’s GoT hEr OwN mIrIcLe ElIxEr.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** SINCE WHEN DID YOU START DRINKING FAYGO?

**GallowCalibrator:** FUCK F4YGO! H3 M34NS COFF33! MY OWN 3L1X3R OF L1F3.

**TerminallyCapricious:** MoM dOeSn’T lEt HeR hAvE It mUcH.

**twinArmageddons:** And how many cup2 ii2 that? Because II’m on my thiird and 2tiill feel liike 2hiit.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** AND WHEN DID YOU GO TO SLEEP?

**twinArmageddons:** ii had plenty of 2leep thank you very much.

**CarcinoGeneticist:** THAT DIDN’T ANSWER MY QUESTION.

**twinArmageddons:** Fuck you, you’re not my mom.

**GallowCalibrator:** 1F H3 W4S, YOU PROB4BLY WOULDN’T H4V3 M1SS3D TH3 BUS.

**twinArmageddons:** II mii22ed the bus?! Fuckiing 2hiit! gtg. Maybe my mom wiill drop me off.

**GallowCalibrator:** 1F 4LL 3LS3 F41LS 4SK L4TUL4. 1’M PR3TTY SUR3 SH3 ST4Y3D OV3R 4T YOUR HOUS3 4NYW4YS.

**twinArmageddons:** yeah, II notiiced. II gue22 II’ll a2k iif II’m de2piirate. But iif II 2tart usiing “radiical” iin everyday conver2atiion, II’m blaiimiing you.

 

I felt the bus stop again as the other students around me started collecting their things and getting to their feet. I glanced out the window to find a short, one story building that looked suspiciously like a school.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** I’M AT THE PRISON. I SHOULD PROBABLY GO BEFORE THE CONFISCATE MY SHIT AND FORCE ME INTO STRIPED PAJAMAS.

**GallowCalibrator:** GOOD LUCK K4RKL3S! DON’T DO 4NYTH1ING 1 WOULDN’T DO!

**CarcinoGeneticist:** THAT’S AN AWEFULLY SHORT LIST.

**GallowCalibrator** : >: [

**CarcinoGeneticist:** :P

**GallowCalibrator:** :D

 

Rolling my eyes, I stuffed my phone into my pocket before following everyone else off the bus. Once I exited, I stood on the sidewalk, staring at the bright yellow sign reading “Prospite Middle School.” I frowned, wishing it was a less cheery color. This was school, not a damn amusement park.

I sighed, resigning myself to my fate as I walked towards the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! You have no idea how excited I am to be posting this chapter. I've finally gotten to some stuff plot wise that I've been planning since before I even started writing it. And it has me pretty psyched! I hope you like it as much as I do. : )
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

It didn’t take me long to get my schedule from the main office, even despite the trouble the secretary had finding it. First she spelled my name wrong, then she was looking in the wrong grade, and then once everything was straight she still couldn’t find me. At that point she tried to convince me I was at the wrong school but then one of her supervisors came over and fixed it. Apparently I wasn’t in the main list yet even though I’ve been registered for almost two months now.

After that fiasco I was thoroughly pissed off and ready to go home. And classes hadn’t even begun yet! I still had fifteen minutes before I had to go to homeroom, which was fifteen minutes too many when there’s nothing to do. I groaned in boredom, deciding that I might as well kill time at the cafeteria.

According to my school map I was halfway there when some chick with blue streaked hair bumped into me.

“Hey, watch where you’re going freak,” she said, sounding way too dramatic for her own good.

“I wasn’t the one that almost knocked a kid to the fucking floor, fuck ass,” I hissed before pushing past her and continuing on my way. She made some sort of huffy sound before heading off in the opposite direction.

By the time I got to the cafeteria, I was more pissed than I had been before. If all the students were like that girl in the hallway, I wasn’t going to last the day. Though, I doubt my brother would be very thrilled about be being kicked out before classes even began. On the plus side, if I did get expelled then I might actually end up going to school with my friends.

I settled at an empty table in the back corner, taking out my phone again so I didn’t have to watch the other students wander around aimlessly before classes. I frowned at the phone as I noticed a new text message I hadn’t realized I got.

 

**GallowCalibrator:** H3Y K4RKL3S. H4V1NG FUN 4T SCHOOL?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** YOU KNOW I’M NOT. WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING?

**GallowCalibrator:** WH1CH SCHOOL D1D YOU 3ND UP 1N 4G41N?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** PROSPITE MIDDLE. AND YOU DIDN’T ANSWER MY QUESTION.

**GallowCalibrator:** COOL. COOL. 1’M GU3SS1NG YOU’R3 H4NG1NG OUT 1N TH3 C4F3T3R14 TO K1LL T1M3, HUH?

**CarcinoGeneticist:** WHERE ELSE WOULD I GO? AND THESE QUESTIONS ARE GETTING REALLY ANNOYING. WHAT ARE YOU UP TO?

**GallowCalibrator:** NOTH1NG!

**CarcinoGeneticist:** IF YOU’RE TRYING TO SEND ME ANOTHER SINGING PARTY CLOWN I’M GOING TO BE PISSED.

 

I glared at the screen when she didn’t answer right away. I groaned in annoyance as I sent her another text.

 

**CarcinoGeneticist:** I SWEAR TO FUCK IF THIS BASTARD DOESN’T HAVE A FUCKING PREPAID PIZZA I WILL CALL EVERY FAST FOOD PLACE WITH DELIVERY AVALAIBLE AND RACK UP THE LARGEST BILL EVER CALCULATED TO BE DELIVERED TO YOUR FUCKING HOUSE. DON’T THINK I WON’T!

 

Again, I didn’t get a response, but before I could start spamming her there was a thud as a large travel mug saying “I want to bee-lieve” with an alien bee under it appeared on the other side of the table. I narrowed my eyes at the mug as the person holding it sat down at my table.

 He was a scrawny kid with pale skin that looked more used to the light of a computer screen than the actual sun. His hair, which almost looked bleached in color, was a short, limp mess on his head. His bangs even shorter, looking almost like he had cut them himself with a pair of safety scissors. The kid was also wearing an odd pair of two toned sunglasses that, though didn’t completely obscure his eyes, definitely made it harder to tell their color.

“Hey, I’m sitting here, shit stain. Find another table,” I demanded as the kid settled into the chair.

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say,” he said, a vaguely familiar lisp in his words. But, despite everything, he only made himself more comfortable as he took a sip from his coffee mug.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said? Get lost.”

“I’m too tired to deal with your bullshit today, KK. I had maybe three hours of sleep last night and the only thing keeping me functioning is this beautiful bastard right here.” He motioned to the mug again as I froze, suddenly realizing why the lisp was so familiar. After all there was only one guy in the world that called me KK.

“Sollux? Is that you?”

“No, I’m the tooth fairy here to knock out all your teeth and steal your lunch money.” I gave him an odd look as he glanced at me over his glasses, each eye matching its lenses’ color almost perfectly. “What? We’re under new management.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Funny, that’s my exact question to you.”

“I go here.”

“Me too. What a coincidence.”

I glared at him but was ignored as he took another long sip from his coffee.

“Will you stop messing around and answer-“ before I could finish my demand I was lifted out of my chair by someone giving me a bear hug.

“What the literal fuck!” I shouted as I struggled to get away. When I couldn’t get free I looked to Sollux for help but got nothing. He wasn’t even paying attention! As far as he was concerned there was nothing out of the ordinary going on, despite the fact that my feet were dangling a foot off the ground. “Put me down!”

“Nah, I need to get my motherfucken hug on with my bestest Karbro,” the person drawled lazily. I immediately stopped struggling. There was no way I could mistake that style of talking.

“Gamzee? You’re here too?” I craned my neck to try to get a good look at the boy. What I saw was a tall, gangly kid with a chaotic mess of ginger hair on top his head. His almost purple eyes were half closed as he grinned lazily.

“Yup,” was his only answer. He still made no move to put me down.

“Wait, if you’re here then where’s Terezi?” My answer came in the form of a shorter, just as ginger figure jumping out in front of me.

“My turn Gamzee!” She exclaimed, jumping up to grab at me. “I need to see what his eyes taste like!”

“Fuck that!” I exclaimed, pulling away from her.

“Come on Karkles! Is this how you greet an old friend?” She asked, pouting from behind her red lensed glasses. Her shoulder length hair was slightly messy but not nearly as bad as her twin’s.

“When they’ve made it a point to announce that they want to lick my fucking eyes then yes!”

“Come on! I’ll let you lick mine!”

“Why the hell would I want to do that?!”

“Excuse me?” a sharp, low voice cut in. We all stopped what we were doing and turned towards it to find an elderly man scowling at us. “Mr. Makara. Put that boy down.”

Gamzee did as he was told with a bit of a pout.

“Now, can someone explain to me what, exactly is going on here?”

“I don’t know why you’re asking me, sir,” Terezi pipped up, a shit eating grin on her face. “I didn’t see anything wrong.”

The man shot her a look that she didn’t seem to notice before turning towards us.

“Well?”

“Just a small reunion, prof. Nothing to get your nickers in a twist about,” Sollux explained as he went to take another sip of coffee only to find it was empty. The man watched Sollux with a critical eye as the boy frowned into his mug. Once he was satisfied, he turned towards the rest of us.

“Since it’s the first day of school and classes haven’t even started yet, I’m letting you off the hook. But next time any of you four make a commotion like that, disrespect a teacher, or use foul language within my hearing,” he gave me a pointed look that I ignored. “Then you’ll be in detention faster than you’d believe physically possible. Understood?”

“Sure. Whatever. Are you leaving now or what?”

The man glared at him once again, before leaving the cafeteria. As we went, Terezi elbowed me, getting my attention.

“Welcome to Prospit Middle, am I right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience over the last two weeks. It's been really busy on my end and I haven't had much of a chance to write. As it is, I finished the last half of this chapter about 5 minutes ago so if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes, that's why. Hopefully, despite the holiday season I'll have some more time to write this week as apposed the the last few.
> 
> Anyways, here's the new chapter. Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

 

The teacher disappeared as we all sat down at the table, making sure he was really gone before we started talking again.

“I have the distinct feeling that we’re going to get in trouble a lot,” Sollux stated with a sigh. He set his coffee mug down with a frown.

“Just like Elementary school,” Terezi said happily. “But now we have Karkles to get into trouble too.”

“I can do that without your help, thank you very much,” I told her, getting a giggle from the girl. “And how did you even know I was here?”

“You just told me. Remember?” she pulled out her phone and waved it at me.

“Which was a bunch of leading questions that sounded like you knew the answers already. So seriously, how the hell did you know I was going here? I thought we had already figured out that I wasn’t going to the same school as you.”

“Yeah, but that was before the town boundaries changed again,” she stated, waving her hand dismissively. “The two towns have an ongoing property dispute that means school territories tend to change every few years. Your house must have fallen into the more recent dispute. Mom said it was just wrapped up two weeks ago and Derse is already trying to get it back.”

“So you knew I was going to be there before we even left for school this morning? Thanks for the damn memo.”

“No, I figured it out within the last five minutes Mr. Drama Queen. You can thank Vriska for me knowing you were here,” Terezi said with a grin. “When she came over complaining about some rude albino looking kid I knew it had to be you.”

“And who the hell is Vriska?”

“Damn it, Terezi, you can’t just go running off like that,” a snobbish voice called from halfway across the cafeteria. We all turned to look, finding the girl from earlier striding towards us.

Now that I got a better look at her, I saw that she was of an athletic build with her black and blue hair curling halfway down her back. She had a pair of square, hipster glasses and some bright blue lipstick for whatever reason. She was also holding some sort of short red stick with one hand while her other remained oddly stiff.

“I am not your locker and will absolutely refuse to be left holding your shit in the hallway while you fuck off to gog knows where,” She continued as she reached us. She tossed the stick at Terezi which Gamzee caught before handing it to his sister.

“I had something important I had to do,” she answered setting the stick down in front of her. “Speaking of which, Karkat meet Vriska. Vriska meet Karkat. I’m sure you’ll be great friends.”

“You’re the rude asshole that ran into me in the hallway,” Vriska pointed out, placing her right hand on her hip.

“You ran into me, dipshit,” I answered frowning at her. “You should learn to look where you’re going."

“Yup, great friends,” Terezi pipped up, but we both ignored her.

“Now, I don’t like to use this card often, but since your new and don’t know shit I guess I have to,” she stated, with an exaggerated sigh. “I have a fake eye so depth perception and shit like that doesn’t exactly work right. Bet you regret being such a dick about ‘looking where I was going’.’” She did finger quotes to that, but it was less effective with one arm. The other still remained motionless.

Truthfully, she was right. I was feeling guilty for running into her like that, not to mention how I handled it. But there was no way I was letting her know that. I had an image to maintain. Or create. This was a new school after all.

“Doesn’t change the fact that you ran into me.”

She groaned loudly as she dropped onto the opposite bench, leaving a space between her and Sollux.

“Seriously Terezi? You’re friends with this freak?” she asked, turning away from me.

“Since we were five,” Terezi said happily, making Vriska roll her eyes as she dropped her elbows onto the table. Her left arm made an odd sound like plastic hitting wood, which is about the time I realized that it was fake as well. With her closer I could see that it was a few shades lighter than her natural skin tone, and somewhat shiny. There was a joint where the elbow should be that allowed it to bend somewhat, but the hand itself was completely immobile.

“You do know it’s rude to stare, right?” Vriska pointed out. I looked up at her to find a very unamused look on her face.

“Your arm’s fake,” I said, unable to think of anything else to say. She sighted again.

“Along with her personality,” Sollux muttered before she could answer me. Her head whipped around to him so fast I could have sworn it almost popped off.

“You _really_ want to start this now, nerd? First day or not I will end you.”

“Get me more coffee and I’ll oblige.” Sollux held up his empty coffee mug, giving it a little shake.

They glared at each other for a long moment before a figure sat down between them. My eyes widened as I noticed that said figure was actually Kanaya.

“Honestly, you two, it is the first day of school. Can’t you hold off your bickering until a more appropriate time?”

“Kanaya? You go here too?” I asked, getting her attention easily. She grinned happily upon seeing me.

“Karkat, I’m glad you ended up here. And I see you found everyone fairly easily, did the shirts help?” Kanaya asked. I stared at her in confusion for a long moment before looking at everyone’s shirt. Sure enough they all had on black tee-shirts with almost holographic like constellations on them. Though each constellation was different and of a separate color, anyone could tell they were from the same set.

“I don’t think he noticed the shirts,” Sollux stated with a smirk. I glared at him.

“It’s not like I had much of a chance, asshole. All you freaks came out of fucking nowhere, taking over my damn table and surprise bear hugging me. How the hell am I supposed to notice a fucking shirt when I’m dangling a foot off the gog damned floor!”

“And there’s the Karkat we all know and love.” Sollux sat back with a shit eating grin.

“Fuck you.”

Before he could respond the bell rang, indicating we should be heading to homeroom.

“I guess the rest of this will have to wait till lunch,” Kanaya said as everyone started to get up from the table.

“Yeah, who would have thought we actually had to go to class,” Vriska pipped up, as she slung her bag onto her right shoulder.

“Gamzee, what homeroom do we have?” Terezi asked as she carefully stepped over the bench. Gamzee pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket, squinting at it.

“Um, room 413.”

“Fuck yeah. My favorite number!” She said with a grin.

“You two even share a schedule?” I asked as Gamzee shoved the paper back into his pocket without ceremony.

“Well duh,” Vriska said with an accompanying eye roll. “Gamzee’s her seeing eye dog since she won’t get a real one for some stupid reason.”

“Seeing eye…what the fuck does that mean?” I asked, barely noticing as Terezi and Gamzee went oddly silent.

“She’s blind, moron. Any _real_ friend would have already known that,” she said simply, as she walked away. Kanaya paused for a moment, looking between my shocked face and her retreating friend before rushing off to follow her, a lecture already starting before they even left the room.

I looked over at Terezi to see her shifting nervously, hands fiddling with her red stick.

“Blind?”

“Oh, look at the time. We’re going to be late for homeroom. Let’s go Gamzee,” she said quickly, giving her twin a push away from the table. I watched in shock as they left as well.

“Oh shit, she didn’t tell you, did she?” Sollux asked as he paused in putting his coffee mug away.

“No! Apparently no one tells me jack shit.”

“Fuck,” he said as he dropped the mug into the bag. “Just forget about it for now. She’ll explain at lunch, I’m sure. If not, I’ll have Gamzee talk to her. If all else fails, I guess I can explain some shit, which is better than nothing.”

“So you’re telling me to just _forget_ that one of my only friends is blind and didn’t tell me?” I exclaimed, getting a sigh from the nerd.

“Come on, I’ll show you were your homeroom is,” he said, motioning for me to follow him as he started towards the exit. I stared after him for a long moment, my mind in shambles. This was some important level shit, and no one’s told me before now. How the hell was I supposed to just forget about it until they decide it’s time to let me in on the secret? This wasn’t fair, and there was nothing I could really do about it. So with a dejected sigh, I followed after Sollux, hoping he actually knew where we were going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.
> 
> Also, here's some links to some pics if you want to see how I imagine the rest of the gang looking.  
> [Sollux](https://twicethetrouble.deviantart.com/art/Sollux-Merau-719687070) , [Gamzee](https://twicethetrouble.deviantart.com/art/Gamzee-Merau-719840452) , [Terezi](https://twicethetrouble.deviantart.com/art/Terezi-Merau-719997053) , [Kanaya](https://twicethetrouble.deviantart.com/art/Kanaya-Merau-720145306)  
> I'll be adding Vriska soon, I just haven't posted her yet.  
> and I have yet to draw Dave.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for your patience over the last few weeks. I've been super busy with holiday stuff so I didn't have much time to dedicate to this fic. The time I did have ended up being used elsewhere because I was having a hard time with this conversation and was trying to put it off as long as possible. I'm still not sure if I like how it turned out but I'm posting it anyways before I decide to rework it again.
> 
> hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

I spent the next few classes in kind of a daze. I had enough brain power to get to my classes, but I was so wrapped up in Terezi’s revelation that I couldn’t even tell anyone which classes I had been to. Sollux had been in my second block class, trying to get my attention without the teacher noticing. I ignored him even as he chucked a wad of loose leaf paper at my head. Whatever excuse he had for all this, I didn’t want to hear it.

Despite the daze, it still felt like forever before the lunch bell finally tolled. I made a b-line towards the cafeteria, wanting to get there as soon as possible. I needed answers. Now.

When I finally got there, after taking two wrong turns and having to ask a teacher for directions, everyone was already sitting at my table from earlier, their lunches in front of them. Sollux had apparently saved me a seat which I promptly took, dropping my lunch onto the table loudly to get their attention.

“Alright, what the fuck is going on?” I demanded as I sat down. They all looked up at me; Terezi, Gamzee, and Vriska on one side of the table while Sollux, Kanaya, and I sat on the other.

“What? No niceties first? What happened to the ‘hey how you doing? Haven’t seen you since breakfast. Were your classes good?’” Vriska asked, waving her fork to emphasize her words. “It’s like you were raised in a barn.”

“Hi Vriska. How absolutely shitty it is to see you again. Hope your classes were as horrible as you are,” I answered her, not even hiding the contempt in my voice. “Now with that out of the way why don’t you shut up so I can get some fucking answers.”

Vriska huffed in annoyance, using her fork to pick up some of the school’s shitty potatoes. She seemed to contemplate launching the blob at me but a look from Kanaya changed her mind. With that settled, I turned back to Terezi and Gamzee, leveling a glair at them that only he could see.

“Now spill.”

“It’s not that big of a thing,” Terezi relented with a sigh. “I’m blind. That’s it. Big whoop.”

“You weren’t blind when we were five.”

“That’s a long time ago Karkles. People change.”

“They don’t fucking loose their eyesight for no gog damned reason,” I hissed. She frowned towards me, her gaze not quite lining up correctly.

“You’re making a mountain out of a mole hill. It’s seriously not that big of a deal.”

“Then why won’t you tell me what happened?”

“Because it doesn’t matter.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Sollux exclaimed, his hand dropping onto the table with a thud. “Just make it easy on everyone tell him.”

“Fine, you win,” Terezi said after a long moment. “I was nine. There was an accident at the docks, which I’m not getting into because it’s super depressing. But during that I hit my head pretty hard, was in a coma for two weeks before waking up blind. There, happy now?”

I was silent for a long moment trying to process what she had said. It seemed impossible that something like this would happen to one of my friends yet, it did. The proof was right in front of me in the form of her tapping fork exploring her plate for food.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I finally asked, her fork stopping for a moment before setting it down with a sigh.

“Because it’s kinda awkward to bring up in conversation,” she answered, her voice tilted as if I should know this. “What did you want me to do, just randomly say, ‘oh, by the way, I can’t see. What’s new on your end?’”

“That’s not an excuse,” I told her, getting an eye roll in response. I was getting nowhere with her so I decided to switch directions a bit. “We were talking by the time this happened right?”

“Well yeah, you got your phone a few months before all this shit went down.”

“Then why couldn’t someone tell me then. It’s not that hard! Didn’t anyone think that it would be a good idea to let her friend know she was in some sort of accident?” I demanded, looking at Sollux and Gamzee now, neither of which were meeting my eyes.

“Oh lay off them, they were busy,” Terezi said shortly, her own temper starting to flair.

“Doing what?”

“Oh, I don’t know, dealing with their own shit. I wasn’t the only one hurt in that accident you know. Vriska lost an eye and an arm to it while Sollux lost his best friend. There’s even a kid that got paralyzed from the waist down because of this. And don’t even get me started on everything else that went on that day,” she snapped, her hands now waving vaguely around the table. The people in question seemed to tense up but otherwise stayed out of it. “Lots of shit went down that day Karkat, I’m sorry we were too busy dealing with it to inform our resident drama queen of everything as soon as it happened.”

“It’s been almost three years, Terezi!” I yelled, refusing to relent. “Someone could have said something within those _three years_!”

“Oh, just like you told us about your housing situation?” she jabbed, making me stop. “Tell me, Karkles, how long did it take you to tell us you got separated from Kankri?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about,” I said, my voice dropping in volume.

“Was it three or four years before you finally let it slip that weren’t even allowed to see him? That you had to hide your phone just so you could talk to him once a month? That you were lucky to stay in a house for two months because they thought you’d run if they left you any longer?”

“That’s enough Terezi,” Sollux interrupted.

“No, it’s not. He’s being a fucking hypocrite and someone’s has to point it out.”

 “That doesn’t mean you need to announce his business to the entire gog damned cafeteria,” he hissed to her.

At that I looked around, finding that almost everyone was turned towards our table, watching our little drama play out. Everyone else had fallen silent, making it so there wasn’t a soul in the room that hadn’t heard us. I could feel my teeth grind together as a slew of different emotions swirled around my head, the most prominent being anger. It was a burning anger that I knew from experience would get me into trouble if I stayed any longer. With that being said I grabbed my bag, shoving my untouched lunch back inside before roughly throwing it on my back.

“I don’t need to listen to this,” I said as I climbed to my feet and started towards the door. I was done with them today. Hell, I was done with the entire fucking school. There was no way I was going back to classes after that. No. Fucking. Way.

So I left. I left the cafeteria as Sollux was trying to call me back. I rushed through the halls, ignoring the hall monitors asking for a pass. I ran by the security guards as they tried to stop me from leaving the school. I didn’t stop my mad dash until I could no longer hear footsteps following me. I didn’t stop moving until I knew I was far enough away that I wouldn’t be found. I didn’t rest until I knew I was finally alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.  
> Here's [Vriska](https://twicethetrouble.deviantart.com/art/Vriska-Merau-724458406?ga_submit_new=10%3A1515390920), who I didn't have posted last chapter. She's the last of who I have drawn right now.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Again, I thank you for your patience. This was a bit of a difficult chapter, at least at the start. I should have another chapter up on our next regularly scheduled posting date (ie. Sunday night-Monday mornings. Depending on time zones.) Yay!
> 
> Anyways, Hope you enjoy,
> 
>  
> 
> TBL

It was official, I was lost. Turns out it’s not the best idea to run off on your own when you don’t know your way around town. With my hands shoved in my pockets, I couldn’t help but frown at the small beach that I had somehow stumbled upon. It was a peaceful little place with a bit of sand that eventually transitioned to piles of large rocks on either side. There was even a dock, or used to be. It looked like it had been broken some years ago with entire chunks of it just missing. The entrance was currently being blocked off by some faded caution tape to keep people off of it.

The place was empty, which probably had something to do with the fact that it was a school day and the weather was shit. A large raindrop hit my nose as if I had somehow summoned it. I groaned as I kicked the sand, watching the damp clump fly maybe a foot before falling back to the ground.

I was still angry. Or at least I wanted to be. I really didn’t want to calm down and risk seeing the argument from their perspective. They were wrong and that was that. But even as I was thinking this, I could already feel my anger starting to ebb. Water had always been calming to me for whatever reason. So it was more of an annoyance then a surprise that, between the waves and the rain, I was almost back to normal. But that didn’t mean I was going down without a fight.

“FUCK!” I shouted towards the sea, gathering my remaining bits of anger before they were gone. “FUCK YOU! FUCK THIS! FUCK THEM! FUCK EVERYTHING ON THIS ENTIRE SHIT STAIN OF A FUCKING PLANET BECAUSE FUCK! IT!”

I stood there panting for a moment, now just feeling exhausted from my outburst.

“Fuck,” I murmured to myself with a long sigh.  

With that out of my system I took a few steps forward before plopping down into the sand. I could already feel water seeping through my pants as I took my shoes off and threw them into my backpack. I stretched my legs out just as a wave washed up the beach, almost reaching my knees before receding back. I fought back a smirk at the residual tingling the water left behind, not ready to give up my bad mood quite yet.

I flopped back onto the sand, my arms outstretched and my eyes closed. It felt good just to lay there, ignoring everything around me except for the sound of waves crashing and raindrops falling. I could pretend the world was simple, that my best friends hadn’t been lying to me for three years, or that my entire school didn’t hear our argument. It was just me, the water, and some guy shouting my name over the sound of it all. _Wait, what?_

I sat up immediately, my eyes shooting open to find the person calling me. With a hand on my backpack I was ready to dart if it happened to be someone I didn’t want to talk to right now.

“KARKAT!” I heard them call again, still kinda far away. But this time I could tell it was coming from the water. I tracked the voice to find a very familiar figure with a blue hood bobbing a few feet away from the docks end. “ARE YOU DEAD?”

I groaned again, dropping back into the sand. I draped an arm over my eyes so I didn’t need to see the hyper prankster.

“IS THAT A YES OR A NO?” John called again, obviously not taking the hint. “I NEED AN ANSWER!”

“If I say yes, will you leave me alone?” I said, not bothering to sit up.

“WHAT?” He yelled, making me roll my eyes. I sat up and repeated myself a little louder. He was silent for a long moment.

“WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

“MAYBE IF YOU WEREN’T SO FUCKING FAR AWAY YOU COULD!” I shouted back, my hands cupped around my mouth.

“WHAT?”

“MOVE CLOSER DUMB ASS!” I shouted even louder.

“I CAN’T,” John said, finally hearing me. “IT’S TOO SHALLOW!”

I rolled my eyes as I grudgingly climbed to my feet, throwing my bag over my shoulder as I did. I looked around the beach for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to get to him. If the beach was too narrow, both piles of rocks would be too. The only way I could possibly get within normal hearing range of the moron was if I went on the abandoned docks. I eyed the caution tape for a moment before shrugging.

I climbed to my feet and walked over to the docks, ducking under the tape before starting to make my way carefully towards John.

“Wait, what are…Karkat, that isn’t safe!” John called once he realized what I was doing. I ignored him, instead focusing on not stepping in any of the numerous holes. “And I think it’s illegal. Dave sat on it once and this guy in a blue uniform with a shiny badge started yelling at him to get off or he was going to get ‘a-rested’, whatever that means. Dave totally freaked him out when he jumped back in the water and-“

“John,” I interrupted as I got to the end of the dock. I sat at the edge carefully, my feet already in the water as I set my backpack behind me. The merboy looked up at me from where he was fiddling with his bracelet.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up. I’m fine.”

“And what if you get in trouble?”

“That’s nothing new. Plus, I’m already going to be in trouble so might as well add this to my rap sheet.” I leaned back on my arms, looking up slightly. The rain was already slowing down despite it not have started very long ago. Apparently, it’s only job was to get everything damp before clamming back up again.

“Does that have anything to do with why you were shouting at the water? Or why you aren’t in school? Because I might not have a clock but I’m pretty sure it’s not even noon yet, and you’re supposed to be there till four.”

“Great deduction there, Sherlock. You get a cookie.” I snipped at him, only to get a huge grin in response.

“Really?”

“No. I don’t have fucking cookies,” I said. His smile quickly faded into a pout. “I literally only have my lunch and I doubt there’s a cookie in there.”

His pout increased tenfold upon hearing that I really did have food. I was only able to withstand a few seconds of that before I was reaching into my backpack and pulling out my lunch from earlier. I tossed it at him, which he caught with barely a fumble.

“You’re insufferable.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter like I promised! Yay for consistency! On that note, I'm going to warn you now just in case. I might not have a chapter next week. At this point I'm thinking I probably will, but I've 1) had a bit of a hard week so I didn't really write much, and 2) found the next chapter to be a bit difficult. I'm not quite halfway through it and really want it to be done in time. But, as I've said before, these are some pretty important chapters and I want them to be good.
> 
> So thanks for the patience, and Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

It wasn’t long before John was floating in front of the docks, using it’s beat up form like a table as he ate the sandwich.

“This is good!” He exclaims, his mouth still full.

“It’s literally just a ham sandwich.”

“But it’s a good ham sandwich.” John takes another bite out of it as I roll my eyes. It’s silent for a while as he chews.

“So?” He asked after swallowing the bite of sandwich. “Why aren’t you at school? And why are you on the other side of town?”

“School was shit so I left,” I answered with a shrug. “That’s it.”

John cocked his head to the side, watching me with curious eyes.

“Are you sure? Because you’re usually not that mad over stuff being shitty. At least not mad enough to get yourself lost and shouting at a body of water that did nothing to you.” He said very matter of fact. “So what happened?”

I watched him carefully for a long moment, unable to hold out very long against his big puppy-like eyes. I relented with a sigh, sitting up as I did so.

“My friends were there,” I told him. He smiled back at me.

“That’s great! Right?” John said, his grin fading when I didn’t reciprocate.

“Oh yeah, it was fucking fantastic, right up until I found out they’ve been keeping secrets from me for three years.” I pulled one of my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around it as I did. I paused again, thinking on how to phrase it. John stayed silent as well. “Terezi…can’t see. She had an accident three years ago that left her blind and none of them told me.”

“That….uh, sucks,” John said, sounding like he was at a loss for words. I chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s one word for it,” I replied, my small smile already disappearing from view. “What makes it worse is that we got into an argument about it during lunch and our entire grade heard it.”

“Is that a lot of people?”

“About fifty or so, I’d guess. But that’s fifty more people that I didn’t want to know my business.” I looked at John briefly, finding a confused look on his face. “She called me a hypocrite for being mad at her when I apparently did the same thing.”

“Did you?”

“No, I didn’t!” I exclaimed my fists balling in the fabric of my pants. “Yes, I may not have told them about being separated from Kankri, but that was different.”

“How so?” John asked curiously, not at all startled by my outburst. “Why didn’t you tell them?”

“They didn’t need to know,” I said sharply. “I barely knew them and I had it under control.”

“Is that really why?” He asked. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he didn’t back down.

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It’s just, I don’t think that’s the truth,” he said simply. I opened my mouth to refute it but he continued talking anyways. “I think you were scared.”

“I wasn’t scared.”

“I think you were scared that if you told anyone, then what was happening would be real,” John’s gaze drifted down to his sandwich as he began fiddling with the crust. “It sounds silly, but brains are kind of silly things. I know I-uh, don’t like talking about my past because it’s easier to pretend it never happened if no one knows it. Maybe that’s what you were doing, pretending that everything was alright so you didn’t need to face the fact that it wasn’t.”

John glanced up at me, no doubt finding an astonished face looking back at him.

“And maybe that’s what your friends were doing too.”

I stared at him for a long while, making him fidget with his sandwich once again. I had no comeback for what he just told me. I hadn’t really thought of why they kept it from me, but I knew that this would have never crossed my mind.

“Where do you come up with this shit?” I finally said, and he only chuckled.

“I used to have a friend that wanted to be a…I think it was a psychologist,” he answered, a smile slowly crawling back on his face. “She knew all about this brain stuff and would tell me about it. That’s all she’d talk about really. Unfortunately, she moved away last year. I think you would have liked her!”

“A busy body that wants to pick apart brains for a living? I think I’ll pass.”

 “But Karkat…” John pouted at me again, his sandwich now held under his chin.

“No.”

“Come oooonnn…”

“You already said she moved. I couldn’t meet her even if I wanted to!”

“That’s not the point!” He said, firmly. “The point is that you should _want_ to meet her.”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“KAARRKKAATTT…” he whined as he grabbed onto my legs, all but hanging off them.

“No! Now get-“

Before I could finish there was a loud, earsplitting crack and I was underwater.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! First I have to give you all a huge Thank You! This fic just crossed over to 200 Kudos and that is the coolest thing to me right now! It makes me so excited you have no idea! As a Thank you gift I present you all an extra long chapter! I hope you like it, this was a very difficult chapter for me to write, which is probably why it turned out so long.
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
> ps. A Quick Warning: This chapter contains a kinda graphic drowning scene. If you need to skip it then you can jump down to the short paragraph starting with {There was a hand gently patting my back as I continued coughing...}. You won't miss very much.

It happened so quick. I hadn’t even realized I fell before I was surrounded by water. Stunned, I floated a foot or two under the surface for a long moment. I was vaguely aware that John had let go of my legs at some point but didn’t know what happened to him after that. My brain was still trying to play catch up when a faint burning in my lungs reminded me I still needed to breath.

I shook my head a bit to get myself to focus before starting my assent. Or at least trying to. As soon as I moved my legs, they cramped up. It felt like my muscles were tightening around each other so hard that it was making my limbs feel almost numb. Well, numb if you could still feel the pain of your muscles trying to strangle each other.

I cried out instinctually only to realize my mistake as the small cloud of bubbles rose to the surface while I began to sink.

Fear crept through me as I realized this was the exact reason Kankri didn’t want me near the water. It was so easy to go under and then for something to go wrong making it so you never resurface. Would they find me after it was over? Would they even know where to look? Or would Kankri be left with the same uncertain answer he got about our father? All because I was stupid and went near the water alone.

_I wonder if he-no. Shit. I’m panicking. I shouldn’t be panicking._

I tried to calm myself down a little. After all, I hadn’t been alone at the dock. John was there. Somewhere. Not to mention he lives in the water so he could help.

“Oh wow, you sunk fast,” I heard John say as he came into view as if summoned. His voice sounded higher pitched while underwater. It was almost like those dolphin type sounds he sometimes makes, but they were forming words. “You fell in and I turned to look for you and you were already go-“

He stopped, blinking a few times as he stared at me for a long moment. I tried to mime to him that he needed to take me to the surface but was ignored.

“Oh, I-um, wasn’t expecting that,” he said after a moment. “Guess I don’t need to worry about you drowning.”

Now it was my turn to stare. _What the fuck?!_

I mimed at him furiously, hoping he would finally understand that I needed air yesterday. He blinked, finally focusing on what I was doing instead of whatever else he had been looking at. It took several seconds of me pointing at the surface for him to finally understand what I was getting at.

“Oh no, you’re fine. Just calm down a little. Maybe take a deep breath? That usually calms me down,” John said, flashing me a bright smile as if it would make everything better. It didn’t.

Oh how I wished I could shout at him. I wanted to yell at him, to scream at his idiocy, to rant a rant so long and intense that if he fast forwarded to three days from now, I’d still be going strong. But if I tried that now, I’d drowned for sure.

The burning in my lungs was becoming more intense. I wasn’t going to be able to hold my breath for very much longer. The panic was back in full force as I tried to figure out a way up. My legs had stopped hurting, but they still felt wrong. I tried to use them to swim up to the surface, but the few kicks I tried didn’t do much. It was like my mind was trying to tell my legs to move in way they couldn’t so it felt like they just flopped around, ultimately doing nothing.

Desperately, I tried to reach the surface only using my arms, but I hadn’t made it more than a few inches when John grabbed my shoulders, pulling me to a stop.

“No, don’t do that. You’re alright. Swimming away from it won’t solve anything,” he said, his voice attempting to be soothing, but it failed. I fought against him but he was stronger than I thought, or I was getting weaker. Probably the later. My limbs were already starting to feel heavier than they should be, my vision narrowing when it shouldn’t.

I stared at him wide-eyed, a feeling of betrayal making itself known. I couldn’t understand why he was keeping me down here. He seemed to notice my expression because his smile soon slipped off his face.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s alright. You’re just freaking out a bit. That’s normal. I think? Man, I’m really bad at this.”

I gave him a pleading look, putting every emotion I currently had into it in hopes that he’d change his mind.

_“Help,”_ I tried to say, my word escaping soundlessly in a stream of bubbles. Despite this John seemed to understand what I was getting at.

“I am helping. I, I promise!” He said, looking as if he believed it. “Just take a breath, you’ll be fine.”

I stared at him, my vision almost completely dark now. All I could see was a pair of luminescent eyes looking back at me. It was with him watching me that I thought, maybe I should listen to him.

I was going to die, that much was certain at this point. I didn’t have much more than a wisp of air still in my lungs and, within a few seconds, that would be gone too. Then I’d have no choice but to breath in the water. So why not do it now?

I was still thinking about what to do when my lungs decided to take the decision from me. My lungs burned even at the addition to salt water inside them.

My ‘breath’ was cut short by a hand clamping across my mouth and fingers pinching my nose. My eyes opened sluggishly even though I hadn’t remembered closing them. All I could see was a blurred hand and those bright blue eyes.

“No! No. No. Not like that! Are you trying to drowned?” a voice said, sounding far out and wobbly. “Gog, just use your- wait. Where are they?”

I was barely aware of another set of fingers poking at me as I started to pass out. They frantically rushed up my sides and across my shoulder before stopping at the crook of my neck.

“…There! But why…closed…,” the voice said. Though I missed half the words, I could tell they were starting to sound panicked. There was a faint sense of justification, then nothing once again. “…so sorry …fuck! …something sharp.”

My eyes closed as my consciousness faded to the voice chanting “sharp” over and over. They opened again as the right side of my neck screamed in pain, followed shortly by the left. I could see red flowing through the water before a pair of hands came towards me.

There was a sharp sting as they slapped the sides of my neck that were already hurting. As soon as they made contact it felt like air was being forced back into my lungs. I could breathe! I immediately started coughing up the water that had been weighing down my lungs.

There was a hand gently patting my back as I continued coughing, it’s owner murmuring who knows what in a soothing tone.

“You’re alright. It’s fine. You’re alright,” I heard the voice, _John’s voice,_ say once my coughing started to slow. It took me a moment to recall what happened over the last few minutes; falling through the docks, my legs cramping, John refusing to bring me to the surface.

I turned to face the merboy, a glair leveled at him as I knocked his hand away from my back. He held it out for a moment, a startled look crossing his face before dropping it to his side.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize they were sealed,” John murmured, guilt taking over his facial features now.

Furious, I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, only for nothing to come out. The words I had prepared disappeared into the water I hadn’t realized was still there. The anger left quickly as I looked around in a stunned confusion. I was still underwater. But, then, how was I breathing?

“Honestly I didn’t think gills could get sealed,” he continued, looking anywhere but at me. “I thought it was just a guppy tale they tell to keep young semi’s from wandering out of the water. I would have done something sooner had I known.”

The words took their time processing in my mind as if it was some huge puzzle that needed solving. They circled through my mind over and over until they finally clicked into place, my eyes widening as they did. With a tentative hand, I reached up to touch the crook of my neck, and though it hurt, I could feel three ridges that moved in and out with every breath.

“Oh, um, I wouldn’t really touch those. They’re kinda sensitive to begin with, probably more so now that they’re reopened.”

My eyes snapped back to John, taking in his concerned expression.

“Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

I opened my mouth to say something, or at least to try, when a flash of red caught my attention. Already dreading what I was going to find, I looked down towards it. It was a tail. A red tail that was easily several shades brighter than Dave’s. From my vantage point, it seemed about as long as I am tall with a large, broad fin at the end that moved gently with the current.

I was unable to look away from it, no matter how much I didn’t want to see it. I didn’t want to see how a small, round dorsal fin would open up every so often when the current got a little too strong. I didn’t want to see how the little bits of light reflected off the scales. I didn’t want to see those scales disappearing under my tee-shirt, making it look like I was attached to it. I just didn’t. It wasn’t something I should be seeing. It was impossible.

“Um, Karkat?” John called again, but I ignored him this time, opting to lift my shirt to prove to myself that I was seeing things. But instead I found that the tail blended in seamlessly with my torso, the scales giving way to skin without much effort.

A hand dropped gently onto my shoulder, giving me a start. I looked up once again to find John’s concerned face looking back.

“Are you alright, Karkat?” he asked again.

I opened my mouth to say something only to realize once again that my words didn’t work underwater. So I shut my mouth, instead making a weak gesture towards the surface, hoping this time he’d listen.

“Um, yeah. Sure.” John looped an arm under mine before starting our assent. “Maybe the air will help.”

As soon as we broke the surface of the water I struggled to take a breath while trying to convince my lung to work correctly. After a couple seconds they seemed to get the memo, allowing me to take my first real breath in what felt like ages.

There was an awkward silence between John and I, only broken up by some coughs as my lungs adjusted back to breathing air. I wasn’t sure what was going through his head at the moment but I personally didn’t feel like talking.

Once the coughs subsided, I turned my attention towards my surroundings, a bit surprised at how little it had changed. We were maybe a yard or two away from the docks now and there were pieces of the broken plank floating nearby along with my lunch, but other than that, nothing changed. The sky was still overcast, the clouds still trying to decide whether it was worth it to rain. The beach was still empty and the faded caution tape still fluttered in the breeze. Everything was exactly the same as it was when I went under, even though I felt as if it shouldn’t.

 “Are you feeling better?” John asked quietly. I didn’t acknowledge him as I started towards the docs. It was a slow process considering I couldn’t move my not-quite legs to help. John was close by, nervously swimming within arm’s reach just in case. I continued to ignore him.

I pulled myself up onto the docks with a little difficulty, the thing replacing my legs being heavier than the limbs I was used to. I sat there, staring at it for a long while, my brain still not wanting to accept it was there.

“If you want your legs back you can dry it off. Dave usually lets it dry on its own but if he’s in a rush he’ll use a towel or something. He usually has one stored nearby just in case,” John supplied. I looked at him for a moment, seeing that he was fiddling with something in his hands but not really bothering to figure out what it was. “I-uh, don’t think he has any over here though. This isn’t one of his normal spots since…”

As he was still talking I pulled my back towards me, not bothering to wonder how it stayed out of the water. I shuffled through it briefly before pulling out a bright red tee-shirt that was supposed to serve as my gym shirt. My hands shook as I used it to dry the not-legs off.

It was less than a minute before my muscles started cramping up again. They tingled and ached as I watched it shorten and split in two, the red scales transitioning easily into the pale skin I was used to. I stared long after it was done transitioning, still trying to catch up with what I had seen. I was vaguely aware that my pants had disappeared at some point, leaving me nude from the waist down, but that wasn’t what I was focusing on right now.

I had been hoping that I was just imaging it, that maybe I was crazy as I originally thought, but for different reasons. I could deal with crazy, as much as I didn’t want to. But this? I saw it change, I could feel the scales disappear through the tee-shirt I was drying off with. It was real. The …tail, had been real. And that, that wasn’t something I could handle right now.

I shoved the now wet shirt back into my bag, pulling out the gym shorts as I climbed unsteadily to my feet.

“Karkat, you should probably sit back down. You look kinda wobbly.” John said, but I ignored him once again. I quickly pulled the shorts on, stumbling once in my rush. “Be careful or you’re going to end up back in the water. Hey, where are you going?”

My bag was already on my back as I ran down the docks, taking less care than I had when I walked up them. I could still hear John calling to me though I couldn’t make out the words. Not that I really wanted to right now. At some point one of my feet slipped through a hole in the wood, but I just pulled it out and kept going, determined to get as far away from this place as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) if you feel like checking it out.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! First i have to say THANK YOU SO MUCH! Your guy's response to last chapter was awesome and really inspiring. Honestly, that had been something I was planning for a while, but I was still really nervous about actually doing it since it was such a big game changer. So hearing all those comments and responses really got me even more excited for this fic. So, one again, Thank you!
> 
> Anyways,  
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

I don’t know how long I wandered through the streets. My mind was in a fog and couldn’t focus on much of anything. Too much had happened in one day and the best way my brain could think to deal with it was to not deal with it at all. So I just kept walking, barely having enough common sense left to stop at traffic lights. My path had changed from dirt roads to streets to sidewalks with my mind only noticing the difference when I stumbled, which was often.

I was on a sidewalk when I heard something more than background noise.

“KK!” Someone called out from my right. It took me longer than it should to realize they were talking to me. I stopped, turned slowly to look at who appeared to be Sollux jogging across one of the lawns towards me. “Where the fuck have you been?”

I blinked, not exactly sure what to say to that. I thought about continuing down the street despite him but figured he’d just follow or something. When he finally came to a stop facing me, he looked annoyed.

“So? Gonna answer or what?” He asked. I continued to say silent, focusing more on his mismatched shoes then his words. “Seriously? You disappeared from school, then don’t even have the decency to answer your phone. You know Kankri’s freaking out right now, right? He’s called my house almost half a dozen times looking for you.”

“Kankri?” I murmured, my voice sounding foreign and rough to my own ears. A few brain cells seemed to spark at my brother’s name, making me realize that a panicking Kankri was not a good thing. I needed to go home.

I started walking again, this time with a destination in mind, but Sollux wasn’t going to let me leave without his answers.

“Where are you going now? And why do you sound like shit?” He paused for a moment as I passed him. “Hell, why do you _look_ like shit?”

I ignored him, determined to go home so my brother didn’t worry anymore.

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” he called. A hand dropped heavily onto my shoulder, making me wince as it bumped one of my wounds. The hand disappeared before reappearing on my arm instead, pulling me gently to a stop.

“Karkat,” Sollux said as I allowed him to slowly turn me towards him. His annoyed expression was gone, replaced with that of concern. “What happened?”

“I’m going home,” I muttered, looking over my shoulder back the way I was headed.

“Your feet are cut up to hell, I’m not sure what’s going on with your neck, and you sound like you’ve been gargling salt water all afternoon,” he stated, pausing only when I winced. “You don’t even have shoes on.”

“I’m going home,” I said again.

“Your house is a mile away from here. I can’t let you walk that far without shoes.” He gave me a stern look as I opened my mouth once again. But this time I was cut off. “It’s also a mile in the opposite direction.”

Whatever had been keeping me going for the past few hours suddenly disappeared at those words. I immediately slumped, exhaustion hitting me like a tidal wave with each little ache and pain I had been ignoring hitching a ride on it. I was fairly sure I wouldn’t be able to make it that mile, no matter what I tried.

“I wanna go home,” I barely whispered, but he seemed to have heard me anyways if his small sigh said anything.

“Gog, why do you have to be so fucking pitiful?” he muttered, probably more to himself than to me. “Just, come with me. We’re technically not supposed to have people over while mom’s at work, minus a few obvious exceptions, but I don’t think she’ll mind.”

Sollux looped his arm around mine and started leading me back the way he had come. I stumbled the first few steps, causing him to tighten his grip so I wouldn’t fall on my face.

“Let’s get you inside and cleaned up. I’ll get LT to call your brother and if we’re lucky she can catch him before he gets to Derse.” He led me towards one of the houses nearby. I stared at it, trying to figure out if it was there the entire time or if I had just completely missed it along with the rest of the neighborhood. I was thinking it was the later since Sollux didn’t seem as surprised by its presence.

I was still thinking on this as we entered the foyer and went straight into a sun-colored living room. It was bright and cheerful despite everything inside being a bit warn around the edges. There were various bee shaped nick knacks strategically place around the room while video games and console accessories were scattered across the floor. Sollux led me over to the lemon colored sofa, navigating me to sit on one of the seats towards the end.

“You stay there, I’ll go find LT,” Sollux stated before disappearing into the next room.

I sat there in silence for a long moment, the only sound being that of my friend calling out for the other person. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was supposed to do here, but I trusted Sollux enough to listen to his advice. Not like I really wanted to leave right now anyways, with my feet hurting worse now that I sat down.

“Hello!” Someone shouted just as a face appeared in front of me. I jumped back as the person’s grin widened. The guy was close to my brother’s age despite the innocent expression on his face. He looked a lot like Sollux with the same pale skin tones and light hair color, though his was longer and much messier than my friend’s. His eyes were almost completely hidden behind a mass of unruly bangs but they looked to have the same heterochromia as well. He was dressed in a pair of black sweat pants and a strange, black and yellow shirt.

“Who are you?” He asked, his head tilting to the side at his question. “You’re not one of my friends. I’m pretty sure I’d know if you were one of my friends. Are you Sollux’s friend? You’re small enough to be Sollux’s friend. He’s not supposed to have friends over right now. Mom’s at work. If she finds out he had people over while she was working she’s going to be mad.”

I just stared at him as he continued to talk to me. I wasn’t exactly sure what to say, though it didn’t seem like that was much of a problem for him. He just kept going, a lisp similar to Sollux’s very present in his speech.

“MT, will you leave him alone,” Sollux called as entered the room, obviously not finding who he was looking for. “And where’s LT?”

“Bathroom,” he said simply, turning his head to look at the other blond boy. It was about then that I realized that this guy must be Sollux’s older brother, Mituna. I remembered my friend saying something about him having some sort of accident that left him with severe brain damage. But that was all I could recall right now.

“So that’s why I can’t find her,” Sollux said as he sat on the sofa facing me. With his leg’s crossed in front of him, he set a fairly large first aid kit in his lap. “Will you tell her I need to use her phone when she’s done?”

“Ok!” he exclaimed happily. He thought for a long moment before speaking again. “Why?”

“Because I don’t have his brother’s number but judging by the number of times he called LT today, she should,” Sollux explained fairly patiently before turning back to me. “Put your backpack down and take off the button up. I need to see how bad you screwed up your neck.”

“But why?” Mituna asked again, as I wordlessly followed Sollux’s instructions.

“Why do I have to call his brother?” He clarified as he sorted through the first aid kit.

“Yes.”

“Because Kankri’s worried for him. He was lost and-“

“Your brother’s Kankri?” Mituna exclaimed, cutting off whatever his sibling was saying. “You poor person. He’s insufferable! All he does is talk and talk and talk and talk-“

“I think we get the point,” Sollux cut in but he continued regardless.

“And he doesn’t play video game with me, it’s just blah blah blah blah blah blah-“

“MT, just leave him alone,” he asked exasperated. He fished out some gauze and some generic saline solution.

“But-“

“Leave him alone. He’s had a bad day.”

Mituna blinked at his brother, his head tilting towards the other side as he thought.

“A bad day?”

“Yes, a bad day.”

“Oh! Ok!” he exclaimed, straightening up quickly. Before Sollux could say another word he disappeared from the room followed closely by the sound of him running up the stairs.

“That was easier than usual,” Sollux muttered, dousing the gauze in saline solution as he did. He looked at the neck wounds then, not bringing the gauze hear them yet. “Damn, looks like someone bit you or something. What happened?”

“I-“ the words got lost soon after I tried to speak. The docks flashed before my eyes, making my chest tighten up in response. “…fell. In the water. Through the docks.”

Sollux’s hand paused as went to start dabbing the wound.

“Shit. Please tell me you weren’t at the one on the north edge.”

I shrugged.

“Was it a broken piece of crap with old caution tape across it?”

I nodded, making Sollux sigh yet again.

“LT’s right, that thing’s cursed,” he muttered, as he started cleaning the wound. I flinched back, surprised that it stung a lot more than normal. “Sorry but we need to get it clean.”

Before either of us could move there was more thumping of someone darting down the stairs just before Mituna appeared again. We could hardly process his reappearance before he sprinted forward, dropping the largest stuffed bee I’ve ever seen into my lap.

“Here! This is Rob-bee! When I’m having a bad day he helps out.” He grinned at me expectantly. I stared at the bee for a long moment before slowly reaching out to pick it up. I could hardly fit my arms around it’s worn torso but, once I did, I could feel my chest loosen ever so slightly. It wasn’t a lot but it did help.

“Thanks Mituna,” Sollux said as he went back to cleaning the wound. I gritted my teeth but didn’t flinch away, this time burying my face into the stuffed animal in my arms. It smelled like honey.

“No problem! He’s only borrowing it though,” he stated. There was a small thump as I think he dropped to the floor in front of me. “I need him back.”

“Of course,” Sollux said a slightly amused tone in his voice. “He has his own at home, no worries.”

“Stuffed bees?”

“No, stuffed crabs.”

“That sucks. They should be bees. Bees are the best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.
> 
> Also if anyone's curious as to how Karkat looks with his fins, here's a [link](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/171150238666/so-i-dont-normally-finish-this-many-in-such-a) to how I drew him. (it's on a new side blog instead of Deviantart b/c I was getting a little fed up with the other site. Anything new will be over there for future reference.)


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! With a new chapter for you guys!
> 
> Also, check it out! I've got [fanart!](https://www.instagram.com/p/BfrHFZvjHQg/?hl=en&taken-by=eggydorable) It's such a cute picture of John, you should totally go check it out. Thanks Eggydorable! I still love it. : )
> 
> And on that awesome note,
> 
> Hope you enjoy,  
> TBL

“Yo ‘Tuna! Where’d you go?” Someone called, presumably from upstairs. Soon after there was a set of loud thumps similar to those Mituna made coming down the stairs a few minutes ago.

I lifted my head just enough to see the room over Rob-bee’s back as a person came spinning around the corner. At first I thought it was Terezi, but I soon realized I was wrong. For one, she was taller, and several years older, than my friend. Another was that her ginger hair was quite a bit longer, ending just below her shoulder blades, and was much straighter than either of the twins. I thought it a bit odd that she had a pair of red tinted sunglasses perched on top her head like a headband but didn’t feel like asking about it.

“Hah! Found yah! Can’t disappear one me, my man!” She exclaimed loudly before flopping onto Mituna’s back like an oversized backpack. He grinned, sticking his tongue out at her briefly before focusing back on the games he was messing with. “What’cha doin?”

“Trying to find a quiet game, but it’s hard. I don’t think I _have_ a quiet game,” he stated with a huff.

“Then play a normal game.”

“I can’t do that! He’s having a bad day! Loud noises make bad days even worse!” Mituna exclaimed loudly.

“Wha?”

“Bad days don’t automatically come with migraines, MT,” Sollux explained with a sigh. He had already finished patching the one side of my neck with a large gauze pad and was now working on cleaning the other. “Though I’m sure he appreciates the effort.”

Latula looked our way, taking notice of us for the first time since entering the room. I quickly buried my face into the stuffed bee, half to avoid her gaze, and half because Sollux had found a particularly painful spot with his saline.

“Look at that. It’s a Vantas! You don’t see very many of those around here now a days,” She said, making Mituna laugh. “And the little one too. Isn’t Kankz looking for him?”

“Yeah, that’s why-“

“Tulip! I almost forgot!” Mituna exclaimed, making Sollux pause in his task.

“Forgot what, love?”

“Sollux needs your phone!”

I could practically hear Sollux roll his eyes as he started dabbing at my wound again.

“You were supposed to ask her _before_ I had a chance to,” Sollux stated.

“I forgot.”

“So what’s this about my phone?” Latula asked, a suspicious tone in her voice.

“I need to borrow it,” Sollux explained.

“Yeah, not a chance,” she stated. I glanced up to see her sending a flat glair Sollux’s way. “Last time I got my phone back after you ‘borrowed’ it, the colors were inverted and you’d changed my ringtone to “Never Gonna Give You Up.” ”

“That was one of my prouder moments, yes, but-“ he started, only to get cut off by Latula as she continued despite him.

“You didn’t even have the decency to change it like a normal person. No, you just had to go through set all my contacts individually. It took me all damn week to reset all of them. I don’t even know how you were physically able to do it all in ten minutes.”

“It’s called talent,” Sollux said quickly.

“He used his computer,” Mituna pipped up, a sly grin on his face.

“Shut up, MT.” Sollux glared at his brother only for him to stick his tongue out in response. He turned his attention back to Latula with a frown. “I need to call Karkat’s brother so he knows we found him. I don’t have his number. You do. See what I’m getting at?”

“Yeah, but I’m still not giving you my phone.” Latula finally dropped off of Mituna’s back before climbing to her feet once again.

“LT, this is important.”

“I know,” she said as she pulled a phone out of her back pocket. “That’s why _I’ll_ call him so you can keep doing whatever you’re doing over there. What even happened to the kid anyways? He looks like shit.”

“Fell through the docks,” Sollux explained as he set down the now dirty gauze. He started hunting through the pack again as I buried my face into the bee, the smell of honey keeping my chest from tightening again. “The northern one.”

“Oh,” Latula said quietly, her usual energy dying a bit. “Did he…”

“He didn’t say anything else, but probably.”

“Poor kid. I’ll call Kankz and let him know so he’ll stop tearing the town apart.” There were light footsteps that lead away from us, seeming to pausing before leaving the room. “Oh, and Sollz?”

Sollux hummed briefly, showing he was paying attention.

“Adorable.”

“Fuck you!” At Sollux’s agitated yell, I glanced up to find Latula lowering her hands from in front of her.

“That’s my job!” Mituna shouted happily, a grin on his face that made Latula laugh.

“That it is,” she agreed before disappearing around the corner still laughing.

I turned to Sollux for answers but he was still digging through the med kit, muttering angrily to himself. He soon found another large gauze pad, unwrapping it quickly before placing it over my wounds and securing it with some medical tape.

“Alright, that’s done,” he said as he placed the last strip of tape. “Let’s see what you did to those feet. Sound good?”

I nodded, sparking a small smile that was gone from Sollux’s face as soon as it had appeared.

“Your responses are getting quicker.” Sollux gathered the box as he spoke, moving down to sit on the floor in front of me. “That’s good. Maybe by the time your brother gets here you won’t be lagging like a game on public wifi.”

I glared at him in response, but it only made him chuckle.

“You’re as threatening as an angry, wet kitten, KK,” he joked as he started examining my ankle. I jumped as Mituna laughed loudly once again.

“He’s a KarKitten!” He pointed out before devolving into laughter again.

“Has a nice ring to it.” Sollux smirked.

“No it doesn’t,” I murmured, half into the bee.

“Yes it does! It’s awesome! I’m a genius! Mituna wins everything!” Mituna countered, jumping to his to brandish an X-box game like one would a sword. He held it up triumphantly for a long moment before bringing the case down in front of him again to look at it. “I’ll play this one.”

Mituna dropped back down to the floor and stated up the console as if he hadn’t been in the middle of a conversation. I blinked again, turning to Sollux who simply shrugged.

“He does that sometimes,” he answered, pulling out a pair of tweezers from the box. “You’ve got some splinters in your one ankle here. I’m removing them then I’ll clean the rest of it up and wrap it. I don’t think I’ll need to wrap your feet, there a little raw and blistered but not horrible. They should be fine.”

I nodded, turning my attention to the TV as the _Lego Batman_ game opened up its start screen. After a few minutes of watching Mituna run batman around the screen, and occasionally wincing when Sollux found a large splinter, Latula came back.

“Alright, Kankz is on his way over,” she announced, nabbing a second controller before dropping into Mituna’s lap. “He said he was 30 minutes away, but I’ll bet he’s here in 20.”

“Kankri drives like an old lady,” Mituna objected.

“Normally, yes. But we have Karkat, so 20 minutes. You’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for the patience! I've had some computer trouble lately so I had to send my laptop to the shop. Unfortunately it took five days for them to get back to me saying that they did what they can but if I want it completely fixed they have to send it away for a week and a half. Luckily they gave me a chance to get my stuff off of it before doing so and, through the use of my library's computers, I can finally give you guys the next chapter of the story! Yay for the library!
> 
> anyway, I've got more [fanart](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/post/171613228181/snauwflake-been-reading-i-know-its-not-much-its)people! I'm super excited about it too and really eager for this chapter to come out so I could tell you all about it! It's so cute! My link to the original post doesn't work so I had to leave a link to the reblog on my tumblr. Thanks Simon! You're awesome! : )
> 
> That's all for now. I'll see if I can get the next chapter done by Sunday but it's very possible that it might be next week before a new update.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

There was a frantic knock at the door that made my eyes snap open. Sollux had long since finished treating my wounds so I could doze on the couch while I waited for my brother. With my backpack as a pillow and my button-up shirt as a blanket, I didn’t expect to be as comfy as I was. But exhaustion can make even a boulder feel like a feather bed so I really shouldn’t have been surprised.

At the knock, Sollux looked up from his phone towards the door. He didn’t move to leave his part of the sofa however, instead turning his attention towards Latula.

“Mind grabbing that LT?” He asked, not waiting for an answer before focusing back on the screen.

“Not my house,” she answered simply from her spot in Mituna’s lap. Her attention was purely on the television that her boyfriend had insisted on muting for my benefit. 

“Well I’m not moving,” Sollux stated, gesturing to the fact that my feet were currently resting on his lap. Latula glanced at him briefly before rolling her eyes.

“Low blow, man. Using your dude’s beat up appendages to get out of opening a door. Completely diabolical,” she complained as she slowly climbed to her feet. There was another round of knocks at the door, this set louder than the previous ones. “Alright! I’m coming. Hold your horses, dude.”

I watched her as she walk backwards towards the door, controller pointed at Mituna.

“Don’t push me off the building while I’m gone,” she said before spinning back around to get the door.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to face Kankri yet. I had done a lot of things today that I know I shouldn’t have done. I wouldn’t be surprised if he walked in with a lecture already started, one that probably wouldn’t end until a week from now when he finally lost his voice. But what’s worse than all that is I know I worried him. I don’t like doing that, my brother has enough on his plate stressing him out, I didn’t need to add to it.

I pulled my button-up over my head as I heard the door open in the foyer. I guess Sollux must have noticed because he patted my leg reassuringly before presumably going back to his phone.

“Yo Kankz, you got here quick. Twenty-three minutes. A new record,” Latula said, her voice slightly muffled.

“Where is Karkat? Is he alright?” I heard my brother ask. There was definitely worry in his voice, maybe even a little panic.

“Yeah, man. A little beat up and probably in shock, but fine. He’s resting on the couch,” Latula answered. I don’t think my brother waited for her to finish before hurrying into the room. His footsteps stopped near the doorway, before heading in at a slower pace, Latula’s right behind him.

“Damn it, Mituna,” she exclaimed, only half cross as he chuckled. “Now I have to climb all the way back up.”

“Sucks to suck,” he replied, a smile in his voice.

I saw her shadow through the button-up as she plopped back into her seat. Another shadow, presumably Kankri’s, knelt in front of me.

“He is not sleeping, is he?” my brother asked, though it sounded less like a question and more like a statement of fact.

“Nah, he was, but not anymore,” Sollux ratted me out. I wanted to kick him for it, but decided it would probably hurt me more than him.

Before I could decide what to do about it all, Kankri lifted part of the button-up in order to peak underneath.

“Hey,” Kankri said gently. He had his old red sweater on despite it not being that cold out. The sleeves had been pulled at a lot throughout the day, making the ends wrinkled and strained. He only did that when he was really nervous, like whenever we had moved to a new household or during the trial that finally gave him custody of me. Seeing that only made me feel worse about it since the whole thing was my fault.

I didn’t respond, instead burying my face in the bee I still had in my arms.

“Karkat, you cannot hide from the world forever,” he said, a sliver of amusement in his voice.

“Yes, I can,” I muttered, getting a small huff of laughter in answer. I felt him pull the makeshift blanket off of my head, setting it down on my shoulders. I peeked at him as he started brushing my hair with his fingers trying to fix whatever mess I had made of it.

“I suppose you could but I would not recommend it. The psychological effects of isolation alone would be quite severe, probably including one-sided conversations, personification of objects, and acute insanity. It is even possible to-“

“So many words!” Mituna exclaimed, throwing his head back with a dramatic flair.

“Tuna, leave them be,” Latula chided quietly.

“Heh, bee,” he said back, but turned back to his game regardless.

Kankri turned back towards me, a little embarrassed from his rambling.

“Are you alright?” He asked after a moment. When I didn’t answer, he continued. “Of course you are not. Latula told me what happened, what she knew that is. I assume it was pretty traumatic. I am sorry you had to go through that.”

I stared at him for a while as he kept talking, confused by his words. He should be scolding me for skipping school, or lecturing me on the dangers of the water. Instead, he was the one apologizing for something he had no control over. He wasn’t even mad, he was simply concerned for me.

I wasn’t used to that anymore. After I was taken from my brother, there were very few people that would have reacted like he was right now. Most of the households I had been in would have yelled at me, or punish me for those wrongdoings. Even the nicer families that were actually concerned for my well-being would have scolded me, pointing out things like ‘if you hadn’t skipped school, this wouldn’t have happened.’ Like I didn’t already know that.

My brother, my fantastic brother, didn’t even say that much. Instead he was trying to understand what I went through and being, well, being my brother.

“Karkat?” Kankri called, snapping my focus back on him. His concerned frown was blurry through the tears collecting in my eyes. I’m not sure when I had started crying but as soon as I realized I was, whatever wall that had been keeping my emotions muted and distant suddenly fell. All the fear, surprise, and shock that had been kept at bay seemed to wash over me now as I let go of the bee and scrambled to grab onto my brother instead.

He seemed shocked for a moment as I wrapped my arms around his torso, burying my face in his sweater in a sad attempt to muffle my sobs. It wasn’t long before his arms lased themselves around my shoulders, returning the embrace.

“It is alright, Karkat. It is alright,” my brother soothed, one hand running through my hair as I bawled. “You are safe now. I’ve got you. Everything is alright.”

Kankri kept murmuring comforting words as I cried. I wasn’t sure how long we sat there before my sobs eventually changed to upset hiccups and the tears finally stopped. Upon glancing around a bit, I noticed that Latula and Mituna had paused there game and left the room at some point. Sollux was still there but he was paying more attention to this phone than strictly necessary to give us a bit of privacy I guess.

“Are you feeling better?” Kankri asked. I raised my head to look at him, finding an understanding look on his face. I nodded a little, making him smile a bit. “Good. I am glad.”

He hugged me closer for a moment, giving me a reassuring squeeze before finally letting go.

“Are you ready to go home?”

I nodded more quickly this time, earning a hair ruffle in response.

“Then let’s go home.”

I smiled back at my brother. That was the best idea I’ve heard all day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) if you feel like visiting.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guess what everyone, new chapter! I wasn't sure if I was going to get one out on time but after spending 2 hours at the library just writing this fic I was able to get it done! I guess when I don't have access to my fics for a week I get a backlog of creative stuff that turns into extra chapters. Still not going to be doing that again anytime soon. That was horrible.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

I didn’t get much sleep that night, and what little I did get, didn’t do much good. Everytime I dozed off I felt like I was back in the water again, unable to breath, which woke me up with a start every time. By morning I felt even more exhausted than I had before I’d went to bed.

I was staring at my complaining alarm clock as I tried  to decide if it was worth it to turn it off, when my brother peeked in. He looked at me for a long moment before walking across the room and silencing the alarm himself.

“That’s been going off for almost five minutes now,” Kankri stated. He already had his school bag over his shoulder and looked about ready to leave for the day. When I didn’t answer, he frowned. “You should probably start getting ready for school before you run out of time.”

“I know,” I murmured, my voice still rough from yesterday. When I didn’t give any indication I was getting up, my brother took the few steps to my bed and sat down on the edge of it. He carefully set his bag on the floor before turning his attention towards me.

“You didn’t sleep well, did you?” he asked. I shook my head in response. “Me neither. That is one thing I know for certain we got from our mother.”

I looked back at my brother in surprise. He didn’t talk about our parents very much, especially mom. It wasn’t a subject he actively avoided, he’d talk about it if I asked, but he usually didn’t bring it up on his own.

“She had been prone to insomnia as well, especially if there was something on her mind,” Kankri went on. Now that I was looking I could see the dark circles under his eyes matched well with his slightly disheveled appearance. He looked about as tired as I felt, and that was saying something. “I remember there were times where she would just give up on sleep and instead worked on painting most of the night. Sometimes I’d join her. More than once father would find us both passed out on the couch the next morning. I’m certain if we look hard enough, we can find the pictures he took as evidence.”

I chuckled lightly at the thought of a mini-Kankri out cold on the sofa, probably cuddling a book or something.

“I wouldn’t be laughing if I were you, little brother. Those pictures are no doubt right next to the ones of you dressed in the cat costume as an infant,” he said with an amused smirk.

“Seriously?” I gave him an incredulous look.

“Porrim made it for you before you were even born. Mother loved it so much you ended up wearing it most of the time you spent with her,” Kankri explained, his amused smile slowly slipping off his face as went on. “It was one of the few things that could make her smile towards the end.”

He was silent for a while, seemingly lost in thought. I wasn’t sure what was going through his mind right now, but whatever it was weighing on him heavily. I frowned as I sat up, my aching muscles not as big of a concern as the fact that Kankri didn’t even notice I moved.

“Kankri?” I called, finally getting my brother’s attention.

“Hmm?” He hummed, his gaze snapping back to me. “Sorry, I seem to have gotten lost for a moment there. I just wanted to let you know that if you have trouble sleeping in the future, feel free to come bother me. Chances are I will be awake as well.” 

“Ok,” I said, still worried about Kankri. He smiled a bit before ruffling my hair quickly in order to avoid his hand getting swatted. “Cut it out. You’re messing it up.”

“It’s a rat’s nest regardless, what exactly would I mess up?” my brother teased. He climbed to his feet, reaching down to grab his backpack as he spoke. “And you should take a shower before you leave. I doubt you want to go to school with that much salt caked into your hair.”

“Can I stay home?” I asked quietly. Kankri paused, his bag hovering over his shoulder.

“You really don’t feel that well?” He questioned, looking at me curiously. I fiddled with my sheets as I nodded, the vague thought that I was picking up John’s habits fluttering through my head as I did. “You’re feet did take a beating yesterday. It would probably be a good idea to rest them for the weekend so you don’t make it worse.”

“So I can stay home?”

“Yes, you may. I’ll let the school know you won’t be coming today.” Kankri finally settled his bag on his shoulder, adjusting it for a moment before turning his attention back towards me. “Do you need me to stay with you?”

“You have school. And work,” I answered. “And you already missed a lot yesterday.”

“Karkat, you are my brother, therefore more important than any job or class I could be attending,” Kankri declared. My hands froze what they were doing as I just stared at him. “If you need me to stay home, I’ll call in. One day won’t be that big of a deal and if they don’t agree then they’re not worth my time. If you need me just say the word.”

I was quiet for a long moment before my brain could finally figure out what to say.

“No, I’ll be alright,” I answered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m just tired and sore after...yesterday. That’s all.”

“Very well,” he said after a few seconds. He adjusted his bag again, making sure it didn’t fall off his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it? What happened at the docks? You seemed really shaken by it, which has me a bit concerned since you’re normally not one for tears and the like. It makes me wonder if something else may have happened other than just falling in the water.”

I stared at my brother for a while. I had almost forgotten how easily Kankri could read me over the last month. Keeping John a secret from him was difficult but it was working. To an extent. In reality I’m pretty sure he knew I was keeping something from him and was just letting me continue doing so. He was smart, and I’m certain the only reason he didn’t know about my merboy friend was because he’s been too busy with school and work to look into it.

“So?” Kankri questioned, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” I answered quietly. “Not really.”

“Does this have anything to do with what you didn’t want to talk at the beginning of the month?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about for a moment, until I remembered the small conversation we had around my pillow fort after I’d met John. It seemed like a long time ago but I guess it really wasn’t.

“A little,” I relented, getting an accepting nod. He seemed to mull something over for a while before walking over to the door and setting his bag in the hallway.

“Come with me,” he stated, gesturing as he spoke. I gave him a confused look that he answered with an expecting one.

“You have school,” I tried to explain.

“This won’t take long, promise. Now come on.”

I groaned as I climbed out of bed, my muscles just as against this course of action as I was. But despite this, I followed my brother out of the room and down the hall. We had just reached another door when I realized where he was leading me.

“But this is…” I started, my sentence fading away before I could finish it.

“Our parent’s room, yes,” he finished, his hand resting lightly on the doorknob. “There’s something in here I wanted to show you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back. I'm hoping this chapter meets all he hype I've been getting over the ending of the last one. I didn't realize how big of a cliff hanger i'd left until I reread it and went "Well shit. I did that." Anyways, I'm really happy with how this turned out so I'm hoping you like it too. : )
> 
> Now, on to some short business before the main attraction. On 4/13 I'm going to be posting a special accompaniment for this fic as a special "Happy Birthday Homestuck" for you all. It's going to be from Kankri's perspective so it will give you a bit of a glance into the elder Vantas's mind. Though, do to the delay of this chapter, Kankri's part is basically going to end up matching up with this one chronologically.
> 
> So my question for you all is, Do you want me to post it here or give it it's own story?
> 
> I'm personally leaning towards making it it's own since I'd like to do some more from his pov and having a place to put them all (that doesn't interfere with this one) would be nice. Then again, having everything in one place is pretty cool too.
> 
> So let me know if you have an opinion one way or another (before 4/13/18 please). If no one answers (or it's a tie) I'll probably give it it's own document and link it to this.
> 
> anyways, that's all. thanks for your patience! You all are awesome!!
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

_“Our parent’s room, yes,” he finished, his hand resting lightly on the doorknob. “There’s something in here I wanted to show you.”_

 

Kankri seemed to take a small breath before opening the door and entering the room. I hadn’t actually seen this room yet, despite spending a lot of time alone in the house over the summer. It just hadn’t felt right to go into the bedroom of someone that wasn’t around to tell you not to.

I don’t know what I expected to see in there but, it wasn’t that. The room was ordinary. A little disused like the rest of the house had been, but still little more than a normal parent’s bedroom. There was a queen size bed set against one wall with night stands on either side. The entire set, plus the long dresser on the other side of the room, was made from a light, almost white wood. The bright colors of the furniture contrasted well against the deep sea blue walls.

The next thing I noticed was that for a room that wasn’t being used, it was incredibly clean. There were fresh sheets on the bed, the dark hardwood floor recently mopped, and every conceivable surface wiped down. I bet even if I tried, I wouldn’t be able to find a speck of dust lingering in here. Even the few picture frames sitting around the room were clean.

Kankri walked into the room, heading straight for the dresser as I lagged a bit behind him, unsure of what to do.

“How is it so clean?” I asked as I tentatively picked up a frame off one of the nightstands.

“Because I keep it so,” He stated simply.

“Why?” I glanced down at the picture, a little startled to find it was that of my parents. They looked young, somewhere between me and Kankri’s ages, and were sitting on a beach somewhere. They were so taken with each other that they didn’t even seem to notice there was a guy aiming a camera at them. My mother’s mousy brown curls were blowing around in the breeze, making her waist length hair more chaotic than it should be. My father’s short, white hair seemed to do the opposite as it barely seemed to be moving at all.

“It’s half for sentimental reasons and half for practical ones,” Kankri answered. I looked up from the photo in my hands to find him standing to one side of the dresser as if getting ready to push it.

“What are you doing?” I asked, to which he flashed me a small grin.

“You’ll see,” He said before turning back towards the dresser. After a moment he pushed it, making it glide silently across the floor on a set of felt floor protectors. He had moved it a yard or two before stopping and heading back to where it had been sitting just a moment ago.

I watched my brother intently as he searched the floor for something, his face lighting up when he found it. I set the picture frame back down on the nightstand as my brother picked at what looked like just a dark knot in the wood flooring. I soon realized it was actually a disguised metal ring that he quickly used to pull up a three square foot section of the floor. I could only stare when, instead of revealing the building’s foundation, or another floor, it opened up to a whole other room.

“What the fuck is that?”

“Karkat, language,” Kankri chided as he propped the newly revealed trapped door against the wall. “It’s called a safe room. Father had it installed soon after they got the house.”

“Why the fu-...heck did they need a safe room?” I demanded, walking over to look inside. It wasn’t very big, at least from where I was standing.  It was maybe about half this room, with its walls and floor composed of bare concrete. There were a couple storage bins sitting in there along with a single naked lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. It left just enough room for about three or four people to sit comfortably inside.

“I’ve told you before about how father was a very avid public speaker. What I hadn’t mentioned was that he was very well known for it, by both his supporters and opposers alike.” Kankri made his way down the rickety looking stairs, turning on the light as he went. As soon reached the floor he began digging through one of the boxes, all the while still talking to me. “Because of his notoriety, his speeches and rallies would often be targeted by those against him, quickly making things turn violent.”

I knelt down at the edge of the doorway, watching Kankri shift old bottles of water and canned foods around the box.

“He had been concerned that one of these days, those opposers would decide they were tired of losing to him at his rallies and try bring the fight here. So he made sure we had a safe room just in case.” He shook his head, shifting his attention to the second box. “I keep the bedroom clean so if we ever have to use it, there would be no dust or grime that could possibly give away our position.”

“Oh, that’s smart,” I said simply. “Do you think we’ll need it?”

“I do not know,” Kankri stated, his search slowing to a stop. “But, honestly, I would rather not take the chance.”

My brother sighed, putting the top back on the box before stepping away from it, his hands on his hips with a frown.

“Where did I put it?” He muttered to himself as he scrutinized the room.

“What are you looking for anyways?”

“Before we had to leave, I hid some stuff down here for safekeeping,” he explained, his gaze scouring the area. “I was afraid if I left them in the house or brought them with us, they would be stolen. So, I figured the safest place to hide them would be the safe room. Problem is, it’s been twelve years since then and I can’t for the life of me remember where I stashed the box.”

“Kankri, the room isn’t that big. How many hiding places could there possibly be?” I asked incredulously. He glanced back at me, rubbing the back of his neck with embarrassment.

“Well, I was a clever nine year old.”

“More clever than you are now?!” I exclaimed. My brother chuckled as he turned back towards the room.

“So it would seem,” he stated. I shook my head at him as he knelt down near the bottom of the stairs, starting to examine the wall. Almost a minute later he let out an “ah ha” before struggling to remove a concrete brick from the wall. “I should have remembered. ‘X’ marks the spot and all that.”

“Please say you didn’t mark the brick with an ‘X’.”

“No, of course not,” he stated as he all but dropped the brick onto the floor. He pointed towards the top corner of it with a fond smile. “I marked it with a ‘K’.”

“That’s just as bad.”

“But it worked,” Kankri said as he reached into the hole. I watched carefully as he pulled out what looked like those round cookie tins that people always fill with sewing supplies. He blew off some of the dust, whipping the rest as he made his way up the stairs. My brother sat down on the top of them before opening the tin.

Inside was a variety of little things I wouldn’t think very important at first glance. There were a couple pieces of paper that looked like photos, two ceramic crabs, black infant cap, and some sort of small chain hiding at the very bottom.

“I forgot these were in here,” Kankri said a little wistfully, picking up the ceramic crabs. “Father bought them long before our parents were married.”

He handed me the knickknacks, allowing me to take a good look at them. One was a light pink color while another was a light green, both only a little smaller than my palm.

“Their claws interlock, see?” Kankri reached over and maneuvered the crabs until they looked like they were holding hands.

“So, they’re like a weird friendship charm?”

“Exactly. The pink one was father’s and the green one mother’s. They were only separated when our parents were. I remember when we were living here, they sat on the dresser, always interlocked like this.”

“Kinda cheesy. But cute, I guess,” I commented, handing them carefully back to my brother. He chuckled as he set them back in the box, before pulling out the baby hat. He held it up on his hand, making sure the little cat ears on the top were prominently shown. “Let me guess, that’s part of the cat costume Porrim made?”

“Of course. I tried to pack the onesie too but it wouldn’t fit.”

“Why?” I questioned as he put it back inside the tin as well.

“I felt it important at the time,” he replied, shuffling the contents around a bit as he spoke. “We can look at the photos when we have more time to do so. But this is the main thing I wanted to show you.”

I watched as he pulled out the small, silver chain, revealing it to be a necklace. It had an oblong oval pendant suspended on it that was maybe the size of my thumb. It was silver as well, the cancer astrological sign engraved prominently on its surface.

“This was mother’s. She almost never took it off. It probably would have been buried with her if the hospital hadn’t insisted it be removed.” Kankri stared at it for a while as he whipped the pendant off with his thumb. Once he was satisfied with it, he handed it to me. “She didn’t really wear rings so she wore this necklace instead of a wedding band.”

“Why did you want to show me this?” I asked, studying it closer. It was still in pretty good shape but you could tell it was well loved. There were several nicks and small scratches on the pendant that you could only see if you looked close enough.

“I can only guess at what you went through at those docks yesterday,” Kankri began, getting my full attention again. “I’m sure you were scared, possibly even terrified. And judging by your reactions later in the day, I am sure you felt very much alone.”

I clenched my empty fist as my brother hit the nail on the head. There was silence as if he was waiting to see if I’d say anything.

“So you made me get out of bed to show me a box of old stuff,” I said slowly, handing the necklace back to him.

“Not completely,” he answered, opening the necklace clasp. Before I could question him further he proceeded to place it around my neck, quickly fastening it in place.

I stared at him in confusion, my hand going straight to the pendant as my brother went back to shuffling the tin’s contents until the top could fit again. Once it was closed he turned back to me, placing the tin in my free hand with a soft smile.

“I just wanted you to remember you aren’t alone anymore, and I thought this tin, particularly that necklace, would keep you from forgetting that.” He used his hand to ruffle my hair while I was too surprised to stop him. “I’m not going to make you tell me what’s going on. But if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here. Alright?”

“Yeah,” I answered after a few seconds, smiling back at him. “Thanks Kankri.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thanks so much for all the feedback I got last chapter. You guys are awesome! I did end up going with the different fic for the Kankri pov and is already up if you want to check it out. It's under the title "What Karkat doesn't know won't hurt him" (for lack of a better title) and is going to be a group of non-chronological one shots of the happenings around town (and underwater) that Karkat doesn't see. I'm also taking suggestions for that fic so if you want to do that, there's more information over at that fic. I'm trying to be a little more interactive with you all and figured this would be a neat (and fun) way of doing so.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

It took several minutes to convince my brother to leave. Not that he wasn’t planning to but, he just wouldn’t stop worrying about me long enough to get out the damn door. I had already crawled back into bed and was almost asleep before he finally decided I would be alright enough for him to go to school. After that, I slept soundly for several hours before being woken up by the sun shining bright in my face.

I blinked groggily, trying to decide if I should get up or just go back to sleep. But Kankri’s suggestion about a shower popped into my head which suddenly sounded like a much better idea. Now that I thought about it, I could almost feel the dirt and salt sticking to my skin from yesterday. It made my skin crawl and basically banished any thought of going back to sleep without getting cleaned up.

“Fucking hell,” I groaned as I pulled myself out of bed, my muscles and various injuries complaining in unison about my movement. “Why me?”

I slowly made my way around the room collecting what I needed for my shower, careful not to look out my window as I did. I knew what I’d find out there, or who I’d find there, and I didn’t really want to talk to him right now. So instead I grabbed a ratty tee-shirt and a pair of sweatpants before heading to the bathroom.

Turning on the shower, I let it heat up as I discarded my pajamas and started working on removing my various bandages. Each had a little old blood on them but nothing fresh, which was good since I wasn’t sure if I could put the neck ones back on anyways. After deciding to leave my mom’s pendant where it was and avoiding the mirror, I hopped into the steaming shower.

“Son of a bitch!” I yelled, as every single scratch I acquired yesterday immediately stung like hell. I then proceeded to curse out everything related to the bathtub for the next several minutes until the stinging finally subsided to more of a dull ache.

I stood in the shower for a long while after that, letting myself enjoy the hot water. I had been a bit worried that I’d have a hard time doing so but this felt nothing like the cold shit I had been submerged in yesterday. This was warm and definitely helped me feel a little better.

When the water began to chill, I washed up quickly, making sure not to put soap on any of my injuries to avoid them stinging again. I then went through the rest of my routine without much change. I had already had my sweatpants on and was about to pull on my shirt when I automatically looked in the mirror and just, froze.

I had been avoiding it before because I already knew I looked bad, but seeing it reflected back at me just made it worse. I looked pale and exhausted, which was kind of a standard for me but it was more intense than normal. What particularly caught my eyes were the three bright red lines on either side of my neck, and the two crescent shaped bite marks that seem to have been dragged over them.

I couldn’t figure out what to worry about first, the fact that those were probably gills, or that John had apparently used his own _teeth_ to open them. Luckily, I was saved from that dilemma by a loud pounding on my front door.

I didn’t move as whoever was outside banged twice on the door, before almost immediately banging twice more. I made no more to answer it, certain that it was probably one of those rules Kankri had made early on that I forgot about. There was no way of knowing who was on the other side of that door, and after hearing what my father had went through, I didn’t want to exactly find out. Technically, I could look out the small bathroom window overtop the toilet but that risked whoever was out there seeing me.

I could hear some bickering coming from outside the house before the sounds of a stick hitting the front door in some weird rhythm I didn’t recognize. There was some talking again before a fairly light knock tapped “shave and a haircut” against the door.

At that, I was really tempted to risk it just to see what sort of people use “shave and a haircut” to convince people to open a door. But I fought the urge, thinking it was better to error on the side of caution. _I will not let my curiosity get the better-_

“KK! We know you’re in there! Open the door already!” A very familiar, lisped voice shouted.

_Fuck it,_ I thought as I stepped up onto the toilet lid to see who was at my door. Sure enough, Sollux was standing on the step, his arms crossed as he actively glared at the front door. But he wasn’t alone. Terezi and Gamzee had accompanied him, all three still having their school bags on their backs.

As I was trying to figure out why the hell they were skipping school to be here, Gamzee’s eyes wandered over to my window. I just caught him nudging Sollux before I dived back to the floor, almost falling off the toilet as I did so.

“Stop being a creep and let us in!” Sollux shouted again. When I didn’t so much as move, he spoke again. “We literally just saw you. We know you’re there. Just open the fucking door already!”

In response, I held up a hand to the window, flicking them off.

“Now, what Sollux is _trying_ to say is either let us in or we’re letting ourselves in,” Terezi explained, way too happily.

“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU FUCKING TRY!” I shouted back.

“Well then, challenge excepted. Gamzee, I’m going to need my lock picks.”

“You got it sis,” Gamzee drawled. I peaked through the window once again to see him digging through Terezi’s bag while Sollux glared at me.

“And how the fuck are you going to do that?!” I called, earning a sinister grin from the shorter red head.

“Watch and learn, Karkles,” she answered, taking two small pieces of metal from her twin and heading towards the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back with a new fluffy chapter for you all!
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

With a frown, I sat down on the toilet, arms crossed in defiance. There was no way they could get in here. None. Maybe if they had some sort of professional thief but all they had was a blind girl with a couple of metal sticks. It wasn’t going to happen.

Of course, almost a minute later there was a loud click and a victory cry coming from outside. I was on my feet again within seconds as the door squeaked open.

“Oh Karkat! Guess what I did?” She called into my house, sounding smug.

I quickly grabbed my shirt and shot across the hall to my room, slamming the door shut behind me. I then dived back under the covers because I definitely didn’t want to deal with them right now. Hell, I didn’t want to deal with anything right now. I would be content to stay sitting on the bed, under my blankets for the rest of the day, but I had a feeling that my ‘guests’ weren’t going to put up with that.

I heard a sigh come from the living room, followed by Sollux saying something about fetching something. It wasn’t until I heard my bedroom door open that I realized he was talking about me.

“Hiding under blankets huh? Real mature KK,” he said, his footsteps echoing through the room.

“Fuck off.”

“Your hospitality shows no bounds.”

“Seriously, fuck off,” I said again, pulling my blankets tighter. “Leave me alone.”

“No can do.”

“Why not?”

“Because a left-alone-with-shitty-emotions Karkat tends to become a forgets-to-eat-and-doesn’t-sleep Karkat. And no one wants one of those.” Before I could say anything in return, he pulled the blanket off of my head, revealing him to be standing there with a raised eyebrow. “Why’d you take off the gauze?”

“I took a shower, asshole. I couldn’t leave them on,” I told him defiantly, holding the blanket so it couldn’t leave my shoulders as well. He sighted, letting go of it in order to search my room.

“Where’s your first aid kit?” he asked as he searched my desk.

“Under the bed, why?”

“Of course it is,” he muttered, redirecting his search. “You need more gauze on those neck wounds.”

“They aren’t bleeding, they’re fine.”

“That was before you took a hot shower, which made it bleed again.” His voice was muffled from under the bed. Curiously, I touched my neck only to find a bit of blood on my hand when I brought it back. Moments later he pulled out the first aid kit I had kicked under there some time ago. “Don’t touch it you idiot.”

Sollux swatted my had away from the wound, plopping himself down on the bed and beginning to tape down the new gauze pads.

“I don’t want to talk to them,” I murmured after a while. Sollux barely paused in his work, already knowing who I was talking about.

“Yeah, well I don’t want to be your fucking nurse maid but I’m still here,” he replied.

“I don’t feel up to arguing with them right now.”

“Then don’t.”

“It’s not that simple,” I muttered, playing with the edge of my blanket.

“Yes it is,” Sollux said, motioning for me to spin around so he could patch the other side. Once I did, he spoke again. “You should at least give them a chance. Who knows, you might be surprised at what they have to say.”

I stayed silent as he placed the last bit of tape, thinking on what he had said. I barely noticed as he collected the few items he had used.

“Done,” he said, the first aid kit snapping shut. “So? Are you going to hide in here like a coward or actually go talk to your friends?”

“I’ll go,” I muttered, pulling the blanket up higher around my shoulders.

“Good. Then at least put your shirt on. Just cause the only girl here is blind doesn’t mean you can walk around half nude,” he said with a smirk. I glared at him.

“It’s my house.”

“It’s Kankri’s house. And I doubt he’d want greeting company in nothing but a pair of sweatpants and a blanket.”

I flicked him off as I grabbed my shirt, quickly slipping it into place. Sollux was already in the hallway, motioning for me to follow. With a reluctant sigh, I climbed to my feet, pausing until Sollux was out of sight before snatching Stian off the bed and hiding him from view. I then made my way towards the living room, shadowing the blond the entire trip.

“Look what I found,” Sollux said, gesturing loosely behind him. “Be careful, you don’t want to spook him. I’m not sure how many pop tarts it would take to lure him out from under the couch.”

“You’re an asshole,” I said flatly.

“And you’re just figuring this out? I’m appalled.” Sollux plopped himself on the couch next to the others. I shifted from foot to foot in the silence that followed before perching myself on one of the stools.

“Sooo…you sound pretty shitty,” Terezi said slowly.

“He looks like he sounds, trust me,” Sollux told her.

“Yeah, that’s what happens when you almost drowned in the fucking ocean,” I stated, my grip tightening around Stian. I regretted saying it almost immediately but refused to take it back on principle.

The awkward silence fell between us again, none of us sure how to breach it. Despite the lunchroom fight being such a small thing considering everything else that happened yesterday, it still hung heavily over us. It was several minutes before Gamzee pipped up, finally breaking the silence for good.

“Yeah, about that. We’re, like, super sorry about that Karbro,” Gamzee drawled.

“Why? It’s not your fault I thought it was a great idea go for a walk on a broken dock,” I said, avoiding their gaze. I tried to fight the anxiety I was feeling at just the thought of it, but it was hard. This really wasn’t something I should be talking about right now, but, then again, it was either now or never. And the awkwardness would be too much if we left it for never.

“What he’s trying to say is that we’re sorry we put you in the situation in the first place,” Terezi said, awkwardly shifting her feet across the floor. “In hindsight, not talking about something so important as a disability for three years was kind of shitty of us. Mostly of me. I asked Gamzee not to tell you. And Sollux thought you already knew.”

“I should have known that was bullshit, but what can I say, I’m a chump,” Sollux piped up as he propped his feet on the coffee table.

“Yeah, that’s the truth,” I muttered. Sollux shot me a lazy middle finger in response before we settled back to the subject at hand. “And I get it. I mean, you weren’t completely wrong. I basically did the same thing with my housing situation. And I really shouldn’t have reacted so badly to it. Especially in the school cafeteria. So, I guess, I’m sorry too?”

“Aww, Karkles, you sound so unsure! It’s adorable. Really,” Terezi said, a teasing grin on her face.

“Shut up!” I could already feel my face heat up with embarrassment.

“Are you blushing? Someone tell me if he’s blushing. I need to know!”

“No I’m not!”

“Fuck yeah he is, sis,” Gamzee ratted out, a smile that echoed his twin’s wide across his face.

“Fuck you both. I take it back.” I crossed my arms, turning away from them in defiance. “None of you get an apology. Consider it like it never existed. Why should I have needed to apologize in the first place? You’re the ones that should be groveling at my feet, begging for my forgiveness. I never-“

I didn’t get much farther before I was lifted up off my stool and into a Gamzee size bear hug.

“PUT ME DOWN YOU FUCK SOCK!”

“Aww, I love you too my bestest of Karbros.” Gamzee said happily.

“Ooh! Karkle snuggles! I want in!” Terezi exclaimed. I didn’t get to say a single word before Gamzee lowered me to the ground and we were side tackled by, what could only be the other ginger.

“You’re both asshats, you know that?” I protested. The twins only grinned at me, as if they knew I didn’t mean it. As if they knew that this was the warmest I’ve felt in a long time.

“Hey Sollux, you wanna join?”

“Nah, I’ll just say over here, taking pictures.”

“PICTURES?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.
> 
> (Shameless self promotion! but I just started a new (totally fluffy) [JohnKat comic](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/173145014821/the-lost-heir-prequel-1-4-alright-so-its) over on tumblr. If you don't mind amateur comics and me kinda being mean to John then check it out. Shameless self promotion done!)


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thanks for waiting, I had a bit of a hard time with this chapter (mostly because one of the characters couldn't decide what they looked liked so I had to go and full out design them). But it all worked out! I'm fairly happy with this chapter even if it is a bit filler-y. I was going to add another small scene to make it a little less so, but that "small scene" is already almost a chapter length in itself (and not done). So you'll see that chapter next week, and hopefully be back on fluffy plot soon after. : )
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

Apparently, my friends had come prepared. Not only had they come armed with almost a dozen movies (over half being rom coms) but they had an entire two bags full of snacks and drinks. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before we were all huddled in a mass of collected pillows and blanks, eating snack while watching the first movie our hands touched. I’d never seen a day pass so quickly, or so enjoyably before then.

Somewhere in the middle of our sixth or seventh movie we all passed out in a large heap on the couch. We ended up sleeping through the rest of it, only to be awoken by Terezi sitting up, throwing both Sollux and I to the floor.

“Pizza!”

“What the fuck, TZ?” Sollux asked, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up.

“Language,” another voice said before Terezi had a chance to retaliate. I followed it to find Kankri setting two boxes of pizza down on the island countertop. “Honestly Sollux, you’re as bad as Karkat sometimes. I’m starting to think you taught each other swear words because I know my brother didn’t get it from me.”

“Hi Kankri,” I said sleepily, dodging Terezi as she followed the smell of food with Gamzee close behind.

“Hello Karkat,” he said, a smile on his face. “Have a good day?

“Could have been worse,” I mumbled, slowly climbing to my feet as Kankri handed out paper plates.

“Admit it, you had a fantastic day,” Terezi pipped up, not even turning away from the box. “Does the top one have pineapple on it?”

“On half. Other half is just cheese.”

“Blah, I’ll have the peperoni you have hiding underneath.” She held her plate out expectantly, making Kankri chuckle.

“Very well. What about you, Gamzee?”

“I’ll have a slice of that miraculous cheese.”

“Boring!” She exclaimed but Gamzee only shrugged, making some sort of ‘eh’ sound as he did.

Kankri dished out the pizza without much trouble and was just grabbing a slice for himself when there was a knock on the door. He paused, glanced at it briefly before placing his plate on the table.

“Are any of you expecting anyone?” He asked, walking around the island and heading towards the door. We all shook our heads. “I guess it’s a surprise all around then.”

He opened the door to reveal a fairly large individual on the other side. He was very tall, definitely over six foot with enough muscles to show through his tight, skeleton print hoodie. His hair reminded me of Gamzee’s except a few shades darker and quite a bit more chaotic. The long, thin scars that went diagonally across his mouth added to the creepy vibes along with couple and nose piercings he had. It bothered me how blank his face was, his purple colored eyes not even blinking when he saw Kankri at the door.

But despite my apprehension, my brother seemed to recognize the guy.

“Ah, Kurloz, nice to see you again. It’s been a while,” my brother said, his hands making weird, very specific gestures as he spoke. There was a long pause as the guy, Kurloz I guess, finally blinked, slowly removing his hands from his hoodie before making gestures in response.

“ _It has,”_ Gamzee says quietly to us.

My head shot towards him in surprise. He pointed towards the door, more specifically the signing man on our front step. It was about then I realized that Kurloz was Gamzee’s and Terezi’s brother they sometimes talk about. In fact, they said he was the one that brought them here today in the first place. From what I’ve been told, he was mute and rarely communicated through anything but sign language. This made it hard for Terezi and him to communicate without some sort of interpreter, which I guess was Gamzee’s job. He did the same thing during our movies so it’s not that surprising.

“ _You don’t need to sign,”_  Kurloz signed. Gamzee translated again, snapping me from my thoughts. I focused on the two at the door to see my brother looking a bit flustered.

“I know,” Kankri said, signing it as well before catching himself. “Old habits and all that.”

Some sort of emotion flitted across the guys face for a brief moment before it was gone. He nodded, turning his attention towards his siblings, already signing.

“ _Ready to go?”_

“But we don’t wanna leave!” Terezi whined, a pout on her face. “Can we stay the night?”

“ _Not my decision.”_

Terezi immediately turned to Kankri.

“Can we stay? Please!”

“I wouldn’t mind. Sollux? Gamzee? I’m assuming you two would you like to stay as well?” My brother asked.

“Sure,” Sollux said, only half paying attention.

“Sounds like fun, Karbro’s bro. I’m all about that.”

“Very well. I have no complaints. Though you should ask your parent’s opinion on the matter.” Kankri was still talking as Sollux pulled out his phone and began texting who I assumed was his mother.

“Fine!” Terezi exclaimed about as dramatically as Vriska does before hoping off the couch and making a beeline towards her older brother. She stopped a couple steps in front of him, holding her hand out expectantly. “Phone please.”

“ _Where’s yours?”_ he signed, an eyebrow raised.

“Dead. And Gamzee forgot his,” Terezi said. Kurloz shook his head lightly before pulling out a phone, tapping the screen a few times and handing it to his sister already ringing. “Thanks Loz.”

He patted her on the head, his lips twitching in what could have been a smile, if it didn’t disappear so quickly.

Kurloz and my brother were talking again as we waited for Terezi to finish, but without Gamzee’s translations, I could only understand half the conversation. It was kind of funny to watch my brother say something long, trying to engage him in conversation, and only get a few short signs in response. He’d then start off on another long statement, not frustrated in the slightest by the lack of answers. I assumed it was something he was used to from Kurloz, either that or those short signs translated to a lot more words each then I thought.

“Yes!” Came Terezi’s exclamation as she threw her arms in the air, barely keeping hold of the phone as she did.

“Was that her answer or are you just really excited about being told no?” Sollux snarked, making Terezi stick out her tongue in his general direction. “Well my mom said yes too, so looks like KK’s stuck with us.”

“Joy,” I muttered. Terezi laughed at that as Kurloz plucked his phone out of her still raised hands. He ended the call before slipping it back into his pocket.

“Guess I’m keeping them after all,” Kankri stated with an amused smile. “I do apologize about your wasted drive.”

“ _No need. I have errands nearby,”_ Kurloz signed, Gamzee translating again as his sister found her way to the couch beside him.

“Do you have work this evening?”

_“No.”_

“Well then, good luck with your, well, errands. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

_“Thanks, but I doubt I will.”_

I stared at him curiously, unsure what to take of the last exchange. It weighed heavily in the room, making Terezi and Gamzee in particular, very focused on their pizza. My brother figeted for a moment as well before something dawned on him.

“Oh, my manners are horrible today. Would you like a slice of pizza? It’s the least I can do to make up for your wasted time.”

“ _What type?_ ”

“One’s peperoni while the other’s half cheese and half pineapple.”

Kurloz thought for a moment before making a single, short sign that Gamzee translated with a smirk.

“ _Pineapple.”_

Terezi gasped as if she had been personally offended by the sign.

“Brother! How could you betray me like this?” She exclaimed, making said individual shake his head. She continued on the theatrics while my brother went to fetch the pizza.

“Does she do this every time?” I whispered to Gamzee as he chuckled.

“Yup,” He replied. “Every time.”

Terezi was still preaching about the evilness of pineapple on pizza as Kurloz accepted the slice from Kankri and left with a wave. She stopped mid-speech as the door clicked shut.

“LOZ! I WASN’T DONE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.  
> Here's my mentioned designs for[Kurloz](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/173656530871/kurloz-for-i-know-its-not-much-alright-so-this). That brat gave me a hard time.  
> Also drew [this](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/173441709361/karkle-cuddles-was-playing-around-with-a-new), which is basically one of the pictures Sollux took last chapter. : )  
> ...  
> I've been busy : )


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! This scene was the one I going to end last chapter with but it turned out too long so it ended up with it's own, kinda small, chapter. It's a little slow, but it is getting everything back on track so there's that. Things will start moving again next chapter, honest!
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

That night the four of us slept on the living room floor. But despite the pile of pillows and blankets high enough to make it impossible to feel the hard wood flooring, I still couldn’t sleep. There were several things still weighing on my mind that I just couldn’t shake, John being one of them.

With a sigh, I wiggled out from between Sollux and Gamzee, stretching for a moment and heading towards the hallway.

“Where you goin’?” Sollux mumbled. The other boy was still mostly asleep with his head partially raised off the pillow to watch me.

“Bathroom,” I answered, motioning towards the appropriate door. “Be right back.”

The blond nodded briefly before dropping his head back down with a muted thump.

I had full intentions on doing just that, but found myself hesitating in front of the door. That wasn’t what was bothering me, I knew that much. It was thoughts of that blue merboy that’s been troubling me all night. Despite several things sorting themselves out today, the watery torment I went through yesterday and John’s part in it hadn’t went away

I sighed, turning around and heading through my bedroom door instead. I stared out at the water, a little surprised that I wasn’t as anxious over the sight as I thought I’d be. It was obviously still there, but it wasn’t trying to strangle me like before.

I didn’t think John would be there at this time of night so I wasn’t too surprised to see an empty dock. Well, mostly empty. There was something shinny in the middle of it that I couldn’t make it out. I got closer to the window, squinting to try to see it better, but whatever it was, it was so small that I just couldn’t.

I cursed lightly at the fact that Kankri had taken his binoculars back quite some time ago otherwise I could have used those. Instead I was left with the options of either going to bed and having one more mystery keeping me awake, or go check it out.

I glanced at the door briefly, making sure no one had followed me. Satisfied at the silence, I slipped on an old jacket before opening my window and climbing out into the cool night.

I was careful as I made my way down to the water, insuring I didn’t step on anything that would irritate my already beat up feet. Once I was on level ground again I shoved my hands into my coat pocket, surprised to find a pack of pop tarts hiding in there. I blinked, trying to figure out when I put it there in the first place. With a shrug, I placed it back in my pocket. The expiration date was still a ways off so now I had breakfast in the morning.

Hands still in my pockets I made my way towards the docks, stopping at their start. I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to walk on them just yet, but I didn’t really need to. I could just make out the small, shiny object to be a school size pack of Doritos held in place with a large shell.

_Why the hell is there a pack of Doritos on the docks?_

My mind took a bit to figure everything out. Like how those were the chips I had brought to school with me for lunch. The same lunch I gave to John. The lunch he didn’t finish because the docks broke and launched it into the water.

The idiot must have grabbed the bag after I left, though why he was leaving it on my docks under a shell of all things I didn’t know. I knew he was obsessed with human food but this was ridiculous. Not to mention that shell probably crushed them all. The bag was most likely full of crumbs now. What use would it be pinned to some docks?

The realization hit me like a bag of bricks to the face. They were for me. That stupid, waterlogged moron left them there for me. It was an apology, or at least the merfolk equivalent of a ‘get well soon’ card. This half empty, crumb filled, bag of chips was John’s fucking “I’m sorry I almost let you drowned. Hope you feel better!” gift, to which I really shouldn’t be surprised. It was ridiculous, such a John thing to do that I could only react one way.

I laughed.

I don’t think I laughed so hard in my life, and if I did, I certainly don’t remember it. By the time I was done there were tears in my eyes and I was fighting for breath with a smile plastered to my face.

I was still whipping away tears as I headed to grab the chips, barely hesitating before stepping onto the dock. I scooped them up, finding that they were, indeed, a bag of crumbs, but that didn’t matter. I shoved them into my pocket anyways, pausing a moment before pulling out the poptarts from my jacket and placing them where the chips had been.

“He’ll get a kick out of that,” I muttered with a smirk. I walked back towards the house, half wishing I could be there in the morning when he finds the pouch. I could almost imagine the ecstatic smile he’d get when he realized I responded. It would have been nice to witness, especially the struggle that would take place when he tries to open it.

I chuckled at the thought, my energy already starting to drain without so many things weighing down on my mind.

By the time I was climbing back through my window I was already half asleep. I fished the chips out of my pocket before discarding the coat onto the bed. With the bag placed carefully on the desk I shuffled back to the living room, half falling back into place between my friends. They shifted accordingly, not even waking up as they made space for me. I smiled softly, burying my face in my pillow as I closed my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.
> 
> And I finally have a doodle of [dave](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/173791018666/bored-dave-i-realized-i-never-posted-a-picture-of) to share! I'll probably have another one next week that's less artsy and more practical.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thank you so much for your patience during my mini, unplanned hiatus. There was a lot of IRL stuff going on which only made my creative low (that's what I'm calling it anyways) worse. Anyways, things seemed to have calmed down now (*knocks vigorously on wood b/c i'm not chancing that shit*) and I'm feeling quite a bit better at the moment. I hope I'm going to be right back on schedule now but I'm not going to make any promises. There's a con coming up this weekend that I haven't quite finished my costumes for so I might end up using a lot of my spare time for that. We shall see.
> 
> Anyways, thanks again. You all are amazing!
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

My friends spent most of the next day at my house as well, which was great. We ended up finishing off the large pile of movies they’d brought with enough time to watch a few of mine. Of course, they complained about my collection right up until Kurloz appeared again, this time unable to be deterred from taking them all home. This made the evening very quiet in comparison with the last two days, but I didn’t really mind. I ended up spending some time with Kankri while he did his homework, ultimately passing out on the sofa shortly after dinner.

I woke up a little after six the next morning, my blanket having magically appeared sometime during the night. I blinked a few times as I tried to figure out what woke me in the first place. Right then, my brother exited the hallway already dressed for work. He rushed around the kitchen, collecting what he needed to make a quick bagged lunch.

“I thought you had today off,” I asked. He looked up at me briefly before going back to making his sandwich.

“I did, but the opening cashier never show up. My boss is panicking because it is her against the morning rush unless I hurry over there to help.”

“Couldn’t she call someone else?” I muttered, getting a sad gaze from my brother in return.

“Unfortunately, no. She doesn’t have that many employees at the moment,” he explained. He placed the sandwich in a zip up bag once it was done and quickly shoved it in his lunch pail. “As it was, I’m very last on the list for call-ins. She had to have tried everyone else before getting to my number.”

“Ok,” I said, my voice somewhat muffled by my pillow. Kankri glanced up from his lunch, his pace slowing as he placed a container of carrots into his bag.

“Are you alright with me going to work?” He questioned. “I’ll be out by four or five, so it’s not going to be the entire day.”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” I answered. “It’s a good chance to make up for the hours you missed Thursday.”

Kankri frowned, his hands finally coming to a stop.

“If you’re not comfortable with me leaving then I can call her back. She’s handled opening shifts on her own before. I’m sure she’d understand if-“

“Kankri, shut up and go save your boss.”

“Alright, if you insist.” He smirked as he threw a few more food items into his lunch pail before closing it. “I’ll check on you during my breaks so keep your phone near.”

“Yeah sure, whatever. Just get out already.” I waved him away as he collected what little else he needed for his shift.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get rid of me,” Kankri said.

“Yeah, I have a full blown party planned for the moment you leave. Loud music, beer kegs, fog machines, the works. It’s a celebration for finally getting some gog-damned peace and quiet around here.”

“I’m certain that’s exactly what’s going down.” Kankri headed towards the door, ruffling my hair as he passed. “Have fun with your party. Do make sure you clean it all up before I get home.”

“It’ll look like I spent the day on the couch.”

“Bye Karkat,” he said, the door already open.

“Bye.” I waved as he disappeared outside.

I laid there for a while longer, making sure Kankri was really gone before getting up myself. It was kind of a good thing that my brother got called in today, this way I could have a nice long talk with the blue tailed menace now instead of waiting until tomorrow morning.

I peeked out the window, my eyes picking up his messy black mop almost instantly. I didn’t wait for him to notice me, instead leaving immediately to get dressed. I took my time choosing what I was going to wear, a little nervous about talking to John again.

I’m not sure why, exactly. I know there’s no reason for me to be worried. It’s just John. He’s a nerdy little fish boy that’s just learning about the world outside the water. It was going to be awkward but that’s about it. Unfortunately, knowing this didn’t exactly help much.

Once I was dressed, I grabbed a box of cereal and walked the familiar path towards the dock. I barely rounded the corner when John caught sight of me. Or I assumed he did, judging by the immediate perking up of his person. He waved enthusiastically. I shook my head, returning the wave with a short one of my own.

As I got closer, I noticed that he was starting to look less excited and more nervous at my approach. He must have remembered why he hadn’t seen me in a few days. He was fidgeting with his bracelet when I finally got to the dock, and sat on the dirt in front of it. We were silent for a while, each of us awkwardly waiting for the other to start.

“Umm…hi?” John finally said. I relaxed a bit, setting the cereal box to my side but not making any move to open it.

“Hi,” I replied.

It was silent again as he hung off the edge of the dock a couple yards away from me. I had a feeling he couldn’t get any closer without getting stuck, otherwise he would have by now.

“Sooo…aren’t you coming over here?”

“After what happened last time? Not a chance.”

“Oh, yeah.”

John was focusing solely on his bracelet now, as if I wasn’t there. When it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything, I decided to do so instead.

“Alright, after spending a lot of time thinking on this, I have several things I want to ask you. So you better listen, got it?”

“Yeah?” he whispered. He was looking at me now, but with more of a deer in the headlights expression then anything.

“First thing first. How long did it take you to open that pop-tart yesterday?”

John stared at me for a good thirty seconds, his mouth agape, before he could actually start forming words.

“Uh, what?”

“The pop-tart packet on the docks yesterday. You found it right?”.

“Yeah.”

“How long did it take you to open it?” I asked the stunned fish boy. He blinked, his hands stilling for a rare moment.

“Seriously?” He looked very confused by now, his brow scrunching so much that it may as well be touching.

“I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t serious.”

“But why do you want to know that?” He exclaimed, but continued before I could give him an answer. “Out of everything we _should_ be talking about, you want to know _that?!_ Karkat, you almost drowned. And I…I almost let you! But instead of talking about important stuff, you’re talking about pop-tarts? I don’t get it!”

“Look, it was bothering me all day yesterday. You know how hard it is to watch boring movies with your friends when you know there’s something more entertaining happening outside?”

“No? You still haven’t told me what a movie is.”

“Right, all you need to know is that it’s fucking hard,” I said, waving it away as I pulled the box of cereal into my lap and began to munch on them. “And I was going to get to everything else after that. Trust me, we were going to have a long talk about why you thought it was a great idea to use your fucking teeth to open my neck.”

“Your gills.”

“Yeah, that. And we’re still having that talk too. Because my neck looks like I was assaulted by a really shitty vampire all because you couldn’t find anything sharp other than your teeth.”

“Vampire?”

“Not important. What _is_ important, is you answering my question,” I said. “How long did it take you to open the pop-tarts?”

“Um…I didn’t,” he muttered, dropping lower in the water as spoke. “Dave opened them for me.”

“Damn it Dave!” I shouted towards the water, shaking a fist in that same direction. I wondered lightly if John’s knight in shining armor had actually came today, but judging by the lack of middle fingers being aimed at me, he probably didn’t. “Please say you at least didn’t share it with him.”

“Well he did open it.”

“Damn it John!” I exclaimed. I grabbed a fistful of my cereal as John watched.

“Umm…Karkat?” he asked tentatively.

“What?”

“Can I have some?”

I rolled my eyes, not surprised in the slightest. I pulled the cereal bag out of the box, crinkling the top shut before tossing it towards him. He fumbled with it for a moment, but ultimately caught it without it catching the water.

“Just don’t eat it all on me. I don’t want to go back and get more.”

“But the bag’s almost full.”

“And I have a long talk planned. Trust me, it will be empty by the time we’re done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Here's a new chapter for you guys. I'm actually pretty happy with it. I thought about skipping this conversation but decided it was kind of necessary for both of my merboys. Especially since they haven't had a proper conversation for quite some time.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

“So, what do you wanna talk about first?” John asked once he tossed the cereal back. He seemed more comfortable now, which is kind of what I planned. Honestly, I just really wanted to know about the pop-tart. The fact that it helped things settle down a little was just a bonus.

“Let’s start with, why your teeth?!”

“What else was I supposed to use?” He said, almost pouting at me. “I don’t carry a blade like Dave and Dirk, and my nails aren’t exactly sharp. And honestly, you didn’t really have enough time for me to find a rock.”

“And who’s fault is that?” I murmured. He winced in response.

“I’m sorry.” He lowered his gaze as guilt began to pick at me as well. I was silent for a long moment before finally giving into it.

“It wasn’t all your fault,” I said, setting the cereal aside once again. “Those docks were condemned for a reason. Probably that one. I shouldn’t have been on them to begin with. You even told me not to so that kind of evens it out, don’t you think?”

John peeked up at me as I leaned back on my arms.

“I guess?” He said slowly, obviously not believing me. “And, I guess if you hadn’t fallen, you never would have found your tail.”

“My…yeah, that.”

“It’s called a tail, Karkat. It’s not that hard of a word.” John chuckled as he placed his forearms on the dock and rested his head on top them. I frowned back at him.

“I know the word, asshat. It’s just…,” I paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. “Ugg, fine. I’ll admit, I’m having a bit of a, well…hard time wrapping my head around all of it.”

“You mean the fact that you’re a semi?”

“That I’m…like you.”

“From what I’ve seen, you’re more like Dave then me. I mean you have the red tail and look like you’re more half of each then three fourths.”

“Please don’t compare me to _him,”_ I groaned, flopping back onto the ground completely.

“But why is it such a hard thing for you accept? You’re a semi. You have a tail. And gills. You could go swimming with me and not worry about drowning. Again. It’s a really cool thing.”

“Look John, I had a hard-enough time just accepting that you weren’t a figment of my imagination. And that was just last month. I never knew anything about your world until then but now I’m finding out that I’m from it? What’s easy to get about that?!” I exclaimed, waving my arms around to emphasize my words. “It’s like if you started hanging out with one of the Condesce’s kids, assuming she has them, only to find out you’re related. Then you get a title and have to go through etiquette training for a position you never wanted all because you were simply trying to make a friend. That’s basically what I’m going through right now so I think I have a right to take it slow.”

“I don’t think that’s how that would work. And the Condesce has four kids. Well, three now. One of the elder ones died a few years back. No one really knows what happened.

“Please say you got what I was getting at,” I said, pinching my nose in frustration.

“Yeah, I get it. You can take as much time as you want getting used to the idea.”

“You’re so generous,” I replied flatly.

“Though, if you do want to go swimming in the future, I’ll definitely be on board for it,” he said, sounding way too happy. I lifted my head briefly to see that he looked just as excited as he sounded. I groaned, dropping my head back down into the dirt.

“I could hardly move that thing last time,” I relented, deciding to go along with it instead of having to explain why that wasn’t going to happen right now.

“You mean your tail?”

“No, the other strange appendage that replaced my legs.” When I didn’t hear a reply, I sighed. “Yes, the tail.”

“Yay! You called it a tail!”

“Shut up and stop being so happy!”

His laughter filled the air, causing whatever lingering tension I had to fade away. This was normal. Normal and, well, actually quite nice. Though I’d never admit it to him, I kind of missed this happy idiot over the last few days.

“Anyways,” he started, once his laughter finally slowed to chuckles. “If that’s all, I could teach you to swim. And talk underwater too. Regular voices don’t travel as well as they do in the air so we have to use higher pitches if we want to talk to each other. It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it.”

“Yeah, no, I don’t think so. I’m not getting taught to swim by someone that I had to explain basic water safety to.”

“Alright, how about D-“

“I swear to fuck if you say Dave, I’m leaving and not talking to you for a week.”

“I was going to say _Dirk,_ but on second thought, he probably wouldn’t be much better,  
 John said. I looked up to see him pouting into his arms but decided not to comment on it. “He’s more of a ‘trial and error’ type of teacher so he’d probably just shove you into the water and shout ‘Swim!’ I mean that’s how he taught Dave to walk. Though it was shouting ‘walk’ instead of ‘swim.’”

“That wouldn’t help in the slightest.”

“Oh, I know. How bout Jake?” John’s head popped up excitedly, his eyes practically glittering. “He’s a pretty good teacher, compared to Dirk. I mean, he’s not a Semi but I’m sure he’d be able to teach you to swim.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked, eyeing the other boy skeptically. “Couldn’t you get into trouble if they found out you were hanging out near the surface all the time?”

“Umm, no? They tell us to be careful around the surface but they’ve never outright forbidden it. We’re semi’s after all, the land is in our blood as much as the water is. Well, not as much for me but you get the idea.” He waved the thought away and continued. “Plus I already told them about you.”

“Seriously?!” I bolted upright, startling the other boy.

“Yeah?” He answered wearily. “Was I not supposed to?”

“I don’t know!” I said, taking a small breath and running a hand through my hair before continuing. “I guess I just assumed you hadn’t. I mean, I haven’t told Kankri.”

“Well, that’s a little different,” he said slowly. When I didn’t stop him he continued. “You said yourself that humans don’t think merfolk exist so telling your brother about me would be weird. But we know humans exist so telling my family about you isn’t as weird.”

“That makes sense. For once.”

“Hey!” John exclaimed. I fought down a smile as he pouted at me once again. We were quiet for a moment until a question popped up in my mind that I kind of wanted the answer to.

“Out of shear curiosity, nothing else, what do they think of me?”

“They think it’s good I have a land friend. I’ve never been friends with someone that didn’t live most of their life underwater so they’re excited for me.” John’s pout faded as he talked about his family, instead being replaced with a fond smile. “Both Dirk and Jake have several land friends. I think Dave does too but he doesn’t get to see her very much anymore so I don’t know.”

“I suppose they think it’s good that you’re learning about the other fourth of your heritage, huh?”

“Yeah, probably,” he said. We lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while until John spoke up again. “So…would it be alright if I asked Jake to teach you to swim?”

“It won’t be for a while, if at all.”

“I know, I just didn’t want to make sure you’d be cool with it. It would be a little awkward if I brought him only to find out you didn’t want him there. Or visa versa.”

I thought for a bit, weighing the pros and cons, finally deciding that it probably wasn’t that bad of an idea.

“You can bring him.” I waved my hand lazily as I propped my head on my other hand. “But only when I decide I want to learn, got it?”

“Got it!”

“And no Dave,” I said, giving the merboy a stern look. “Dave isn’t even allowed to know it’s happening. If he shows up, I’m kicking his ass right back out of here.”

“But what if he shows up and you already have a tail? You can’t really kick ass with a tail.”

“Do not doubt my persistence, John. I’ll do it, fin or not!”

 “You know, it’s really weird when you talk about flirting with my moirail even when he’s not here,” John said, his trickster smirk making an appearance yet again.

“I’m not flirting with him, halfwit! It’s a platonic ass kicking and you know it!”

“Are you sure? I mean you always say that human romance doesn’t work like that but you’re not exactly human so…”

“I’m about two seconds from platonically kicking your ass too if you keep this up.”

“But I don’t have an ass,” he said between giggles.

“Then I guess I’m not sharing the rest of my cereal.”

The giggles stopped suddenly as I picked up the almost forgotten bag. I grabbed a small handful, shoving it into my mouth pointedly. He watched me wide eyed, trying to figure out if I was bluffing.

“But Karkat, that’s not fair!”

“Yes it is.”

“You can’t eat the whole bag by yourself!”

“Watch me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter. and I'm on time for once! Of course I literally just wrote half of it tonight but it still counts. : ) I hope you guys don't mind a tiny time skip. I mean I could have made some scenes for a lot of this information but I really wanted to get to this scene in particular (and the scenes that follow.)
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

“Seriously, those two are pissing me off!” I exclaimed, dropping my bag onto the dock before flopping down myself. “You have no idea how close I am to knocking both their asses out just to get some gog-damned piece in quiet at lunch.”

“Are you talking about Sollux and Vriska again?” John hurried over to the edge I was sitting on in order to hang off of it.

“What do you think?” I wrenched my shoes and socks off, tossing them aside not caring where they land.

“Well, they’re all you’ve been complaining about for the past week so I assume so? But who knows? You could taking about someone else. Like Terezi and Gamzee. They can be pretty loud and troublesome, from what you’ve said at least,” He said with a smirk. I glared at him but he continued on anyways. “Or it could be someone you haven’t told me about that you know. Or even some random other students that-“

“For fuck’s sake, yes! I’m talking about Sollux and Vriska,” I said, dropping my feet into the water, turning to face John with a scowl. He looked amused. “Laugh it up, buddy. You don’t see the way those two bicker and fight. And it’s either Kanaya or I stuck in the center of it!”

 “Poor Karkat, actually having to stop fights instead of start them. Whatever are you to do?” He said. I reached over to swat him but he dropped below the water, artfully dodging it. I waited a few seconds before he resurfaced in a fit of giggles.

“You can’t still find this funny.”

“Yes I can,” he said between laughs. I rolled my eyes as I propped my elbows up on my lap and rested my head between my hands.

“I feel like their fucking auspice.” I muttered into my hands, only making John chuckle more. “And it sucks.”

“But you said you thought the black roms sounded fun. Auspising is part of that.”

“I wasn’t talking about this particular side of the fucked up, ashen triangle. I’m no good at this shit!” I exclaimed as John’s laughter finally started to subside. “Thank gog Kanaya’s there most of the time to keep Vriska in check otherwise I’m sure there would have been blood spilt by now.”

“Well, you have to be doing something right if it hasn’t devolved into fist fights yet,” John said, smiling encouragingly at me now. “If you keep at it, you’ll learn to be better at it.”

“I don’t want to be better at it. Hell, I don’t even like Vriska. The only reason I’ve been playing peacekeeper between them is because Sollux is my best friend and I’d rather him not get in trouble at school.”

“Oh! So you’re just keeping your moirail out of trouble then.”

“He’s not my moirail!” I exclaimed immediately, startling the blue finned boy next to me. John blinked at me several times as I tried to figure out what else to say to that. When I came up with nothing he spoke instead.

“But isn’t he though?”  John tilted his head to the side questioningly. “I mean, when I told you what a moirail was you immediately associated it with ‘best friend.’ And from what you’ve said it sounds like a good moirallegance.”

“No it doesn’t. It’s-“

“Karkat, you two talk everyday and a lot at night when you can’t sleep, you trade advise, you’re concerned for each other’s well fair.” John counted each point on his fingers as he went, making me frown. “He literally patched up your wounds when you needed him too and you’re always scolding him when he stays up on his ‘techy stuff’. If that’s not a moirallegance, then I don’t know what is.”

“Humans don’t do that.”

“You’re not all human.”

“Sollux is,” I stated, stopping him in his tracks.

“Oh,” he muttered, looking unsure of what to say.

“So stop trying that shit on me.”

“Fine.” John rolled his eyes as he plopped his head down on his arms. “You’ll get a quadrant one day. I’m sure.”

“And what makes you so sure about that?” I raised an incredulous eyebrow as he shot me a sly grin.

“Reasons!” He practically sang as I glared at him. I was just about to tell him where he could shove his ‘reasons’ when he shot up straight with a swear. “Damn it! I forgot! Jake asked me to help scavenge this afternoon and I was supposed to be home by now. He’s going to flip. And by flip I mean give his ‘I’m quite disappointed in you, buster’ speech, and I hate that speech. I’ve gadda go.”

At the mention of Jake, my mind jumped back to a topic that had been entering my thoughts more frequently as time went on. That maybe I really should learn to swim soon. I wasn’t sure about it, but then again, I probably never would be if I didn’t at least try. So, with my eyes locked on my submerged feet, I took a fortifying breath, and called out to John.

“Hey, wait a minute!”

John stopped, not having gotten very far in the first place.

“But I really do have to go though.”

“Look, I know. I’ll be quick. I just want to ask you something?” I glanced up at John to see him watching me with his large, curious eyes. It didn’t make things any easier so I looked back at my feet.

“Ok? What is it?”

“I-um, I was just wondering if you and Jake were busy this weekend.”

“You mean the days you don’t go to school?”

“Yeah, those days. Or one of those days. Maybe both. I don’t know really.” I watched my feet move back and forth in the water. “I just figured the weekend would be good because we’d have both if we needed both.”

“Need both for what?” he asked. My eyes snapped up to him to see if he was joking and for once, he wasn’t.

“Seriously? You’re seriously going to make me spell this out to you? It was your fucking suggestion and now you completely forgot about it? Holy shit! You really are an idiot! I’m not even exaggerating this time you complete and utter-“

“Wait! Are you saying you want to learn to swim?!” His excitement was almost palatable as his face lit up like a light bulb.

“Thank gog, he figured it out! We should create a holiday to mark this occasion. We’ll call it ‘Clueless Idiot Day’. Cancel school, throw a parade, maybe hold a feast before everyone launches themselves into the sea from the shear stupidity of it all. It will be great.”

“You really want to go swimming this weekend?” John asked, sounding just as hopeful despite my rant.

“Yes John! Otherwise I wouldn’t have brought it up!”

“Ok! I’ll tell Jake! I’m sure he’ll be free,” he said, his grin talking up half of his face. “You’re going to love swimming, Karkat. I just know it!”

Before I could say anything else he disappeared underwater, leaving barely a ripple behind to show he was there. I let out a long sigh as I pinched my nose.

“What the hell did I get myself into?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.
> 
> and if you're wondering what John trying to convince Dirk to let him keep a jellyfish looks like [ I got you](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/176185908431/johns-jellyfish-i-wrote-one-sentence-about-john). No joke, as soon as I wrote that sentence, i had to go over and draw it.


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Guess who has a new chapter? If you guessed someone other than me, well, you could be right....but the for sure answer is me! : ) So, here's my chapter that was giving me all sorts of grief from Karkat fighting me about getting in the water to Jake's weird speech patterns. It was going to be longer but where I left off wasn't a very good break (I mean, this one isn't either but it's better than the complete end of my document.) Jake still hasn't clicked for me so hang in there while I figure out how to write this guy.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

When the weekend finally rolled around, I was quite a bit more nervous than when I first asked. Kankri hadn’t been gone for more than a minute before I was at the docks waiting for them to show up. John had said the day before that they’d be a little later than usual, so I wasn’t too surprised that they weren’t here yet.

I placed a couple towels on top my already abandoned shoes before standing up again. Too nervous to stay put, I paced up and down the dock, telling myself that everything was fine. Nothing was going to go wrong. It wasn’t going to be like last time. _I’m not going to drown…or anything._

I glanced towards the water again, noting that it looked darker and more menacing then it had in a while. I could feel the anxiety creeping into my chest and trying to strangle my lungs as it had before. It whispered tales about every horrible thing that could happen if I got in the water again. It pointed out how cold the water must be now, just as cold as a month ago, if not colder. It picked at my determination until it there was virtually nothing left.

“Fuck this shit,” I murmured to myself. I spun on my heals and headed towards land. I couldn’t do this. Not today. I’m sure John would-

“Hey Karkat! We’re here!” A cheerful voice called out behind me. I hadn’t taken more than a step before I turned back around to face him. He was grinning as always, seemingly oblivious to the fact I was about to blow off our planned activity.

I took a deep breath , collecting myself before I could respond.

“Hey idiot, what took you so long?” I shoved my jittery hands into my pockets and walked towards him.

“I told you we’d be late.” John rolled his eyes, pointing towards the water behind him. It was still empty. “Jake insisted we couldn’t come until we had breakfast.”

“Wait, do you normally skip breakfast when you visit me?”

“Yeah? You always share your food anyways.” John shrugged. “And your breakfast tastes so much better than what Jake or Dirk make. Neither of them can really cook. At all.”

“Ah so that’s how it is, eh? That our lovingly prepared meals are so unpleasant that you would rather hoodwink your land friend into sharing his,” a new voice stated. It was deeper in tone, definitely an adult, and sounded more British then Kanaya normally does. Somehow.

My eyes snapped to follow the voice, finding that the empty space that John had pointed to a moment ago, now held an adult merman. His looked about Kankri’s age with skin much darker than John’s. His hair was black like my friend’s but a bit shorter and quite a bit tamer. His eyes were a brilliant green that even his glasses couldn’t hide. Their color matched the thin, wiggly marks that started on his cheeks before traveling down his neck and disappearing under the shoulders of his shirt. For some reason, said shirt was a dark, short sleeved button up that was left unbuttoned.

As John stammered some sort of excuse, the merman turned his attention towards me.

“Hello mate, you must be Karkat. It’s quite swell to finally meet you in person. John’s told us all a lot about you.”

“So I’ve heard,” I said, aiming a flat look at the other boy. He at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish. “And you’re Jake.”

“Right you are!” He gave a small salute revealing a small fin attached to his forearms. “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, why don’t we get straight down to business, hmm?”

The anxiety that I had been ignoring began to creep back to mind. My hands tightened into fists in my pockets as I took a breath, fighting it off.

“Yeah, sure. Sounds good.”

“Alright, so how ‘bout you drop the trousers, hop in the water, and we’ll teach you how to swim.”

I blinked.

“Um, what about my pants?” I asked, thinking I may have heard him wrong. Jake chuckled.

“Well you can’t exactly swim with them on, now can you? They’ll just rip and then you’ll be down one quality pair of pants.”

“Oh, yeah. Right. Don’t exactly remember that from…never mind.” I shifted nervously, trying to ignore Jake and John sharing some sort of look because it was easier that way.

“Um, Karkat? Are you alright?” John asked, watching me carefully.

“I’m fine!” I snapped, making Jake startle a bit. John just gave me some shitty, knowing look that was starting to piss me off.

“We don’t need to do this today, if you’re not ready. No need to rush. The water’s not going anywhere.”

“I told you I’m fine! So just shut up and turn around.” I glanced over at Jake, barely remembering the manners Kankri drilled into my head. “Please. I’m not taking my pants off while you two just watch. That’s creepy as fuck.”

“It is? Dirk and Dave climb in and out of the water all the time and they haven’t made a peep about it,” Jake said, looking confused even as John pulled his arm in order to turn him around.

“He’s a land-dweller. They’re weird about clothing. I’m pretty sure the human’s have laws about it and everything,” John explained happily. He then turned his head towards me for a moment. “Just jump into the water once you’re ready. We’ll just assume that’s our cue to turn back around. Ok?”

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Just turn around already so I can get this over with.”

John turned away, essentially leaving me alone on the docks. When I was sure he wasn’t going to look back again, I took another breath before stripping out of my jeans and boxers. I placed them next to the towels with my phone on top just in case I needed it, then turned to face the water.

It felt menacing again, even with John and Jake already bobbing nearby. I didn’t want to go in there, but then again, I really didn’t want to continue avoiding it either. I needed to do this today. No matter what John said, it really couldn’t wait.

Deciding to take it slow, I sat down at the end of the docks, placing my feet in first. The familiar tingling appeared, soothing my nerves ever so slightly. With a hand on one of the posts, I slowly began lowering my legs further into the water. The tingling spread with the more of my limbs that got submerged. I was just wondering if it had anything to do with the whole tail thing when gravity grabbed hold of me and I was dropped into the water with an undignified squawk.

Honestly, I’m not sure what John expected to see when he looked back to find out what all my cursing was about. Though I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect to see me clinging to the dock post for dear life despite being in the water up to my chest.

I hadn’t noticed he was even watching until I heard his laughter ring overtop my own string of swear words. I stopped cursing, my face heating up as I realized how stupid of a position I was in.

“Well, at least you’re in the water.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back with a new chapter. I had wanted it to be longer but the new voltron season was released friday and between trying find time to watch all 13 episodes and dealing with the shit they threw at us, I didn't have much time/energy to write. That season really messed me up, and not in a "oh my gosh all the feels" way. It was more of a "that's completely stupid! What were the creators thinking!? look at all the shit i have to fix" way. If that makes any sense.
> 
> Also, I HAVE MORE FANART!
> 
> you can find them [here](https://just-call-me-luc.tumblr.com/post/176812892229/karkat-of-i-know-its-not-much-i-used-him-to) and [here](https://just-call-me-luc.tumblr.com/post/176728803389/fanart-of-i-know-its-not-much-yeah-i-was-lazy). If i did my links right. Thanks again just-call-me-luc! they're both great!
> 
> Anyways, just for future reference, there's going to be a small (couple hour) time skip between this chapter and the next, which is why I placed the break where it is. It's simply to get through some sort of boring stuff and move onto the fun stuff.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

 John laughed as I frowned at him, my face no doubt growing even redder.

“Shut up! Like you can do any better!” I exclaimed, but it only made him laugh even more.

“Is it safe to turn around?” Jake asked, still politely facing away.

“Yeah, he’s got his tail,” John said, through his laughter.

“I do?” I wondered quietly. I looked down to find the bright red tail having replaced my legs once again while I wasn’t paying attention. Unlike last time it had moved, if the fact that it was wrapped as tightly around the post as the rest of me was any indication. “Holy shit, how’d I do that?”

“What? Grow a tail or get it tangled on the dock post?” John immediately collapsed into another fit of giggles, only to get cut off when Jake pushed him under the water. When he resurfaced his laughter had stopped, leaving him pouting at his guardian. “What was that for?”

“You’re being quite rude,” Jake scolded as he swam over towards me. “The least you could do was help your pal here before laughing at his expense.”

John muttered a sorry into the water as Jake turned his attention towards me.

“Alright, that’s a jolly good start you’ve got there,” he said with a cheerful grin. “Why don’t we get you down and properly into the water. After all, it would be a tad difficult to teach you from where you’ve perched yourself.”

“Umm…no thanks, I’m good.”

“Do you intend to stay there your entire life?” Jake asked with an amused smirk.

I looked down at my tail before looking Jake straight in the eyes.

“Yes.”

The merman chuckled lightly.

“And why would that be, if I may inquire?”

“Many reasons. The main being that I still can’t move this fucking thing.” I gestured towards the fin.

“Well you must have maneuvered your tail for it to get wrapped around the pole,” Jake pointed out, his head tilting slightly.

“Yeah, but I DON’T KNOW HOW I DID IT!” I yelled. Neither of them were fazed this time around.

“Ah, I see your dilemma,” Jake stated, holding up a finger in emphasis. He then turned towards John. “John, would you mind assisting Karkat in getting himself free?”

“Sure!” John said. He shot me a grin that I knew all too well before disappearing under the water.

“John, what are you doing?” I called, worried about what he had planned. When I didn’t get an answer, I tried again. “John, answer me.”

I watched a blue blur zip under the water, stopping near my fin. I could just make out John’s face despite the water’s distortion. He was still grinning, with a hand reaching towards my fin.

“Don’t do it! I don’t know what you’re doing but don’t you fucking do it!” I yelled. “I mean it! You better get that hand away from my fin or so help me I’ll-OW!”

There was a sharp pinch at the end of my fin, which was only made weirder by the fact that I still wasn’t used to having one yet. The only way I could describe it was that it was like my leg fell asleep and was just starting to wake up when John fucking pinched it. I had feeling in it, but it still wasn’t quite right. It was apparently just enough of a surprise to make me let go.

Once my head dropped underwater, I panicked, my hands immediately shooting to pinch my nose and cover my mouth.

“Fancy meeting you here,” John said with a smug smile, his voice once again higher pitched. I flicked him off with my free hand, making him chuckle and making me feel a little better. “Need some help?”

I nodded frantically.

“Well keep your nose pinched and try to breath,” Jake said, floating down from the surface until he was next to us. “Go on, breath.”

I tried what he suggested, though a bit skeptically. At first, it felt like nothing was happening. But after a few seconds of trying to breathe through a plugged nose, my neck tickled right beneath the skin. My free hand just starting to move towards my neck as my gills opened, feeding fresh oxygen into my lungs. I coughed, not having expected it to work.

“There you go, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Jake said, patting my back until the coughing subsided, my panic fading alongside it. “It’s a neat little trick for those just learning to switch between their lungs and gills. Soon enough you won’t even need it but for now I’d keep it tucked under your hat for safe keeping if I were you.”

I tried to tell him that I didn’t have a hat but the words seemed to get eaten by the water as soon as they left my lips. John giggled, earning a glair in response.

“You have to use the higher pitches, Karkat. Regular voices won’t travel underwater.” He smiled as I tried again, only to be met with silence instead of my words. “Higher than that. These tones are just past anything a normal human can hear. So that means you actually have to put some effort into it.”

I frowned at him, this time determined to make him hear me. I took a deep breath and tried to say all the curse words I knew in the highest voice possible. I had gotten through several of them when my voice seemed to hit the right range.

“-uck!” I said, my own voice startling me into silence. John was once again hiding chuckles behind his hands as Jake somehow looked both proud and amused.

I went to tell John where he could shove his laughter but lost the right pitch, making my words inaudible once again.

“Well, that was a good try champ. I’m sure you’ll get a handle on that right quick,” Jake said. “I could give you a few pointers if you’d like. Or if you’re getting too frustrated with it, we can dabble in learning to swim. It’s up to you.”

I thought on it for a long moment. On one hand, we did come here to swim, so we really should be working on that. But on the other hand, I’m pretty sure I’d just become even more frustrated if I couldn’t talk while doing so.

“He’s going to want to talk first,” John pipped up before I had even completely made up his mind. “If he can’t yell and curse while doing something he won’t want to do it at all.”

“John, you cannot simply make it for him.”

“That’s what he’d want!” he said, defending himself. “I’m certain.”

“I’m sure you are but it really is his choice to make,” Jake pointed out. He turned towards me expectantly. “What do you say? Keep working on getting vocal or take a small detour and try something else for a while?”

I looked away as I gestured towards John, figuring he’d understand that I was agreeing with the other boy’s assumption.

“Yay! I was right!” John threw his arms up with a large grin on his face.

“…-ut up!” I tried to yell back, only a couple syllables audible through the whole statement.

“Very well then!” Jake interrupted with a clap. “Now how exactly should I explain this, hmm? I’ve never really had to teach someone to speak before so forgive me if things get a bit wonky.”

I nodded.

“Alright, so let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.   
> Also, here's a doodle i did of [Jake and Dirk](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/171002711331/its-a-little-more-than-a-doodle-but-i-absolutely) a while back. I think i forgot to link it when I did it, but now that Jake has shown up i figured I should at least link it (again if not already). (Sorry if words are weird rn. not a good words day today.)


	46. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry this is a teeny bit late, I completely forgot I was supposed to read through the new chapter and post it until I was already in bed. But here it is, and I'm fairly happy with it. I'm still not very confident with Jake's dialogue but he's not that far off so I think I'm going to just leave it. Maybe in this au he doesn't use as many weird terms for some reason? idk.
> 
> Anyway, I think that's it.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

It was a couple hours before I was able to speak under water with any sort of consistency. At that point we took a much-needed lunch break which consisted of me running back to the house with a towel around my waist to make sandwiches. Once we were done eating I was back in the water again.

It was easier this time, which was good. I only hesitated a moment before I jumped in, towel still around my waist. It didn’t get shredded like the jeans had, probably because it didn’t wrap around each leg so my tail had room to appear. Once I had, I ditched the towel and let John pull me under the water.

“Are you ready to start swimming?” John asked, bobbing up and down with excitement. Jake was floating nearby with an amused smile on his face.

“Yeah, sure,” I said quickly. I still wasn’t perfect with the voice thing, I’d occasionally drop my sentences if they went on too long so it was best to keep them short and simple . But I could at least get my thoughts across now, which was a gog-sent, let me tell you.

“Sweet! Let’s do it!” John exclaimed, darting away. Jake and I waited a moment until he stopped and turned back towards us. “Jake! How do we teach Karkat to swim?”

“I was curious as to when you’d ask that,” Jake said with a chuckle. “Honestly, you seem more enthusiastic about this than he is.”

They both looked towards me. I shrugged. John rolled his eyes and focused back on Jake.

“So? How’s he going to learn? Do we just talk him through it? Because I don’t remember if there’s a difference between moving legs and a tail so I’m not sure that would work.”

“Well, neither do I. Of course I’ve never had a pair of those particular appendages to begin with.”

“There’s a difference,” I pipped up. “If not, I’d be swimming already.”

“That is quite true. But if I didn’t come here with a better plan than that, what sort of half-baked teacher would I be?” Jake smiled, which after knowing john for two months, made me concerned. “John, grab one of his arms, if you will? We are going to tow him.”

“You’re going to what now?” I asked, but my only answer was John grinning to match Jake. That wasn’t going to bode well for me in the slightest. “John, what does he mean?”

“You’ll see!” he said, swimming up to one side of me. I tried to keep my closest arm away from him, but it only lead to Jake grabbing the other in my distraction. John quickly grabbed the first and before I could say anything, they both took off away from the docks. I fought against them, trying to swear at them the whole time but completely forgot the pitch in my surprise.

“Honestly lad, you are acting like we’re pulling you too your doom. Not to mention we are going quite slow. There’s no need for such theatrics,” Jake pointed out, shaking his head. “It would be much easier on everyone here if you stopped trying to pull away. And maybe if you weren’t so vertical. After all, you can’t swim standing up like that.”

“You never told me what you’re doing!” I belted out, my complaints finally making themselves know. The two pulled to a stop, but didn’t let go of my forearms.

“We’re swimming Karkat.” John rolled his eyes at me. “That’s the plan. Jake and I swim while we pull you along. That’s what towing is, duh.”

“What was that-“

“It should give you a feel of what it’s like to do it yourself. And, if everything goes swimmingly, it will help you figure out how to actually move said tail of yours.”

“Oh,” I said shortly, feeling a little silly now that it was explained. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

“What is life without a few surprises here and there?”

“A lot less terrifying that’s for sure!”

“You really have no sense of adventure, do you?”

“Adventure? How the fuck does grabbing my arms for no explained reason and then taking off to who knows where constitute as an adventure!? Maybe it counts as such where you come from but it doesn’t where- “I was mid-rant when my voice disappeared.

“See? I told you he’d want to swear the whole time.”

“Shut up!”

“That’s enough, chaps. You are getting horribly off course and we don’t exactly have time for anymore adorable detours,” Jake said. I opened my mouth to demand what was so adorable about the last few hours, but he continued as if he didn’t notice. “The day is half over already; do you honestly want to waste the last half fooling around and not accomplishing anything?”

“No,” John and I muttered.

“Now Karkat, do you understand what we’re doing?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, we’re going to try this again. Turn yourself so you are positioned horizontally with your stomach down, like this,” he explained, following his own instructions. After a bit of struggling, I was able to maneuver myself to match. “Very good. We’re going to start moving now. Once we do focus on how your tail feels going through the water. Don’t be alarmed if it starts moving on instinct. It probably will so don’t fight it. It will help you in the long run.”

“Ok,” I said, taking a quick look at my tail before we got started. It was just laying there, fins moving gently in the current. It still looked and felt so alien that I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to it. I mean, some people can’t draw while others never learn to whistle. Maybe I’m just the odd one out that can’t learn to swim.

“And off we go,” Jake stated. My head snapped up as soon as we started moving. After a long moment I realized they were right, it didn’t feel like we were going fast at all. The water was flowing around me slowly, it’s light current almost comforting in a way.

“Karkat? Are you focusing on your tail?” Jake’s voice startled me out of my daze fairly quickly. My eyes snapped open despite the fact that I didn’t remember shutting them.

“Of course I am,” I defended, but judging by their expressions, they weren’t fooled.

I tried to ignore the two but it was hard what with Jake’s half hidden chuckle as well as John’s sappily empathetic smile. Seriously, it was like that kid knew I was enjoying the water, and was happy about it for some reason? He’s an enigma full of happiness and smiles. I really shouldn’t be surprised that someone so familiar with that happy shit could all but sense my own.

I rolled my eyes at him then turned my attention to the matter at hand. I looked at my tail again, seeing it move with the current. It felt almost like my legs when I used to use the swings for too long, rubbery and without much control. The large, round fins at the end were moving the most; flipping up and down several times before folding in on itself to rest, then stretching out again to repeat the process. In my mind they felt like long, floppy toes trying to grab a ground that wasn’t there. Those movements were deliberate, I could tell. And that was something I could work with.

Closing my eyes, I focused on how those ‘floppy toes’ were moving, studying how exactly they felt as they did. When I was confident I was on to something, I decided the only way to be sure was to try it out. I took a breath before trying to mimic what had been feeling, but under my own control.

It must have worked a little too well because the next thing I knew I had shot forward about a foot while launching myself into a head-over-tail spin that John and Jake had to save me from.

“You did it!” John exclaimed, bobbing next to me in excitement.

“No I didn’t! That was a failure! I almost sent myself spinning into eternity and you’re celebrating it?”

“That wasn’t a failure,” Jake corrected with a small smile. “That’s called a start. And a smashing good one, I’d say. The movements were a little exaggerated, but you’ll get the hang of it.”

“Yeah, that was great!” John said. “Good job!”

I grumbled, trying to hide the little spark of happiness that appeared at his praise.

“Ready for round two?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ve always wanted to launch myself spinning into a never-ending abyss twice in one day.”

“You’re so dramatic,” John said with a roll of his eyes. He grabbed onto my arm and they started towing me once again. “But I guess if that does happen, I can save you.”

“Yes, because _that_ makes me feel safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thanks for the patience last week, I didn't exactly know where this chapter was going until a few days ago. Now I should be good for a few chapters at least. : )
> 
> Speaking of which, I'm looking for some ideas for a few underwater filler chapters. The only reason I'm asking is because the next big event I have planned would basically be the very start of the end game (a very long end game. that leads to a sequel. It's not ending soon, i promise.) Anyways, I kind of want these two boys to have some underwater shenanigans before I start throwing serious stuff at them again. Let them have some fun before the plot moves on. So if anyone has something they'd like to see that involves at least John and Karkat swimming please let me know. I'm looking for 2 or 3 of them that I can write out or at least mention in passing.
> 
> Anyways, I think that's it.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL
> 
> ps. oh yeah, I forgot this chapter's a little early b/c i won't b in wifi tomorrow. I'm sure none of you mind lol : )  
> pps. Dirk hijacked the last half of this chapter. He wasn't supposed to show up till later but u try telling him that.

The next morning, I sat on the docks, resting my sore muscles before the other two showed up. I had already switched my pants for a towel, figuring it would be a lot easier than having them face away while I basically stripped. I was really hoping no one showed up before John and Jake otherwise I’d have some trouble explaining why I was sitting on the docks in a tee-shirt and no pants.

Luckily they arrived pretty quickly, popping up through the surface with matching smiles on their faces. It was actually kind of unnerving how similar they were considering the two were unrelated by blood.

“Hi Karkat!” John exclaimed, making a beeline to the docks. He propped his arms on them like usual while Jake stayed where he was. “How are you today?”

“Other than half my muscles feeling like they’re trying to kill me? Peachy.”

“Is that good? I’m not sure what ‘peachy’ means so I don’t really know,” John said, cocking his head to the side for good measure.

“I’m not exactly sure either,” Jake said. “But as for those pesky muscles, those are from swimming so much yesterday. It takes different muscles to move your tail, ones I doubt you’ve used very much.”

“Thanks, I figured that much out myself.” I took a breath before slipping into the water, towel and all. It was much easier than it was this time yesterday, even though there was still a bit of anxiousness left over, it was quickly silenced.

Within moments my tail had formed and I could toss the towel back onto the dock.

“So, what are we doing today?” I asked as I tried moving my fin a bit. It did as I instructed, though the movements were a little jerky, it was still miles better than where I started yesterday.

“Much of the same I assume,” Jake stated. Though with you picking it up so quickly I doubt you’ll need both of us towing you today. You should be able to propel yourself around so you’ll really only need a guide for steering purposes.”

“Let me guess, you’re leaving that job to John.”

“Righty-o! I’ll be on the sidelines observing and calling out pointers as needed.” Jake looked away, his voice taking an awkwardly casual tone that confused me. “Though, if it turns out those particular pointers are unnecessary, I may sneak away early. If you don’t mind, that is.”

“What Jake means is that he and Dirk have a date!” John stretched out the last word teasingly, making the older merman blush considerably. Or I assumed he was blushing since his face took on a more greenish tone as he stammered at John. “And the sooner he’s done here the sooner they can start it!”

“John!”

“What? It’s true. And it’s not like it’s a secret or anything. You always have dates with Dirk on Sundays.” John gave him his most innocent expression, making Jake sigh.

“What am I going to do with you?”

“Eventually leave me with Karkat to go on your date.”

I had never seen a grown man pout successfully before, in fact I hadn’t thought it was possible. But there Jake was, pouting like he’d won metals in the sport of childish expressions as he disappeared underwater, making sure to splash his ward in the process.

“You know I don’t care what your guardians do in their spare time. In fact, I’d rather not know,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, but the sooner he leaves, the sooner I can show you this cool thing I found that Jake doesn’t know about.” John grinned mischievously. “He probably wouldn’t want us near it, like at all. As much as he talks about adventure, he doesn’t really like me and Dave going on them alone.”

“Why didn’t you just leave him home in the first place?”

“I tried, but he was very insistent on not leaving you hanging. Something along the lines of ‘I gave him my word and dang-nabbit I’m going to keep it.’”

“I can see that,” I muttered. “So, how cool is this thing anyways?”

“Very. Though I haven’t gotten a good look at it. But it’s nearby so we won’t be exhausting your sore muscles too much.”

I thought for a moment before shrugging. It was getting a little boring just swimming around in circles anyways. Maybe having a destination would fix that.

“Fine, I’m in. Let’s ditch Jake.”

“Yes!” John exclaimed happily. “Alright, here’s the plan!”

 

-

 

An hour later we still hadn’t ditched Jake. We had tried several of John’s so called “plans” but each one ended with us still swimming in circles, hand-in-hand, while Jake shouted pointers from a small distance.

“You’re plans suck,” I muttered to him, hoping my voice was quiet enough for Jake not to hear. It was hard to tell underwater after all.

“What? I could have sworn that was going to work,” John whispered back about the same volume.

“You told him he left breakfast in the oven.”

“Yeah? So?”

“You don’t have an oven!”

“Of course we do, we’re not uncivilized.” John shot me a stern look that had me raising an eyebrow. “It’s a thermal vent that we have set to blow into a large, metal box. Cooks food great.”

“Fine, you can have that one. But it doesn’t change the fact that you tried to convince him that he left food in it when, apparently, he didn’t even cook this morning!”

“I was busy trying to get him to stay home. I can’t be blamed for not paying attention to who was cooking during my distraction.”

“Yes you can, and you are.”

“Alright Karkat! Let’s try the turn again!” Jake called to us. “This time try using your entire body instead of just your tail.”

“Ok!” I shouted back before turning back to John. “How many times are we going to swim around this damn rock?”

“Hopefully not many more. I’ve got another plan,” John said as he began the turn, pulling me into it a few seconds later.

“What? Did he leave his laundry out this time?” I struggled to mimic his movements but still found it quite difficult.

“When you put it like that, it sounds stupid.”

“Because it _is_ stupid!” I exclaimed. I was about to explain exactly why this was the case when I was interrupted.

“How’s it going?” a man asked, his voice pretty chill but not familiar. The following surprised squeak, on the other hand, had clearly belonged to Jake.

John and I quickly turned towards the voice to find a new Merman all but draped across Jake’s startled shoulders. He was tan with golden blond hair that seemed unaffected by the currents. It didn’t so much as move, instead staying perfectly sculpted in something akin to anime spikes. As if to match his hair, he was wearing these triangle shaped anime shades that hid most of his face from view. He had on a white tee-shirt that I couldn’t see the front of along with a pair of orange fingerless gloves the same shade as his bright orange tail.

“Dirk! Where the bloody hell did you come from?!” Jake exclaimed, his voice shooting up several octaves. The merman I assumed was Dirk, smirked at his significant other.

“I was nearby so I thought I’d stop to see how you all were doing.”

“You didn’t need to scare me halfway to death in the process!”

“But then where would the fun be in that?” Dirk turned his attention towards John and I as Jake grumbled to himself about sneaky matesprites. “You must be Karkat. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

“Let me guess, it’s a bunch of good stuff from John, and a lot of bad stuff from Dave,” I said flatly as John and I swam closer.

“Something like that.” Dirk detached himself from his partner and held a hand out for me to shake. “Good to finally meet you, regardless. I’m Dirk, though, I think you already knew that.”

“You’re an older, oranger, version of Dave,” I pointed out, shaking the offered hand. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out.”

“Technically Dave is a younger, redder, version of me but I’ll let it slide.” He released my hand in order to take Jake’s instead. “Anyways, you’re swimming quite well so I’ll be taking him now.”

Dirk held up him and Jake’s clasped hand, making the other man snap back into the conversation.

“What? No. I couldn’t possibly leave now! He’s hardly figured out how to turn!”

“Looked fine to me.”

“No it doesn’t, it’s not nearly smooth enough to be effective.”

“But he’s doing it so it’s fine.”

“That’s not how it works, Dirk, and you know it.” His hands were on his hips as he gave Dirk a stern look. “Not to mention, I promised I would teach him and I can’t very well go back on my word now.”

“Actually I’m fine. Swimming better already. No need for anymore lessons I don’t think. Anything else I haven’t learned will probably come with practice,” I said quickly. John picked up what I was doing and almost immediately jumped on the band wagon as well.

“Yeah, and I’ll make sure he practices! A lot! So there’s really no need for you to stay.”

“But I-“ Jake tried to protest but I didn’t give him the chance.

“Go! Shoo! Enjoy your date. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very.”

“Well alright, if you insist,” Jake said, turning his attention towards Dirk. “Looks like we get to leave early after all. Where ever are we going to spend this extra time? I’m sure you got an idea, hmm?”

“Of course but it’s a surprise,” Dirk said as the turned to leave.

“If you insist,” Jake said happily, turning to look back at us briefly. “Bye boys. Hope to see you again soon, Karkat. Oh and keep practicing!” Jake waving over his shoulder before facing forward again. Dirk simply looked back at us over top his shades, revealing his bright orange eyes for a conspiratorial wink.

“Bye!” John called as we both waved back.

We waited until they were out of sight before breathing a sigh of relief

“That took longer than it should have,” I muttered.

“Yeah, but see? I told you it would work this time!”

“Oh don’t even pretend that was you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	48. Chapter 48

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back! Thank you all for the suggestions, I loved them and will be incorporating them as soon as this little sequence of events is over. So thanks again!
> 
> Also I got more [FANART](https://www.deviantart.com/lisa-for-ever13/art/Karkat-The-Breakfast-Man-762569943/) thanks to sapphireskeletons. It's super cute! Thanks again!
> 
> Anyways, with that done, here's your new chapter!
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

“Come on, the thing’s this way,” John said as he started back towards the docks. He wasn’t exactly towing me anymore but was still holding my hand so I could keep up.

“What thing?”

“You know, the cool thing. The thing we ditched Jake to go see. You can’t have forgotten already.”

“It’s been an hour, John. By the end of it I just wanted to stop swimming around the fucking rock,” I said flatly. He chuckled as we weaved through the dock’s support beams and started swimming left down the rocky coast. “And what is this thing anyways? You never said.”

“You never asked either,” John pointed out with a smirk.

“I am now so what are we going to see?”

“It’s this.” John pulled me to a stop and gestured grandly at the rocks next to him. I blinked, finding nothing different about it them the last couple hundred yards of coast that we swam by. I glanced over towards the blue merboy. He was still gesturing to it, his tail flipping lightly in excitement.

“You do know those are just more rocks, right?” I asked. John rolled his eyes at me.

“From there, yeah, but from here…” he paused as he pulled me a few feet towards where he was floating. As I was moving the rock face seemed to transform, revealing a dark cave hidden in its surface. “Things are a little different, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said quietly, my mind still trying to figure out where the hell that thing came from.

“It’s perfectly hidden, probably by a merfolk at some point years ago,” John explained. “I’ve been here a lot over the last two months and I only noticed it week or so ago. You can only see it from this spot.”

“Alright, I’ll admit, that is pretty cool,” I said, crossing my arms as I looked towards him. “Still not sure why we needed to get rid of Jake for this though.”

“Silly Karkat, Jake would never let us explore it if he was still here. And that’s what we’re doing today!”

“Why haven’t you explored it before now?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I wanted to wait until you could explore it with me,” he said honestly.

“Yeah right, you probably were just too cowardly to do it by yourself,” I stated, trying to burry the useless warm feeling I got when spoke. This boy was going to be the death of me. Or at least my indifference if I wasn’t careful.

“No, I’ve explored many caves before this one. I just thought since it’s basically under your docks that this would make it your cave. So exploring it without you seemed wrong, I guess?” He fidgeted with his bracelet, eyeing the cave as he did. “Does that sound stupid?”

“Yes, but I pretty much expected that much,” I stated, getting a chuckle from John in response. “Let’s go check out the stupid cave before it tries to disappear on us.”

“Alright!” John exclaimed, grabbing my hand again and pulling me towards the entrance.

 “It’s kind of cramped in here,” I said after a moment, eyeing the walls. The tunnel was narrow, with barely enough room for both of us swimming side by side. An adult merfolk would probably have to swim one by one if they wanted to travel it, but John and I were still tiny enough to make it work. “And why is it so dark?”

“It has to be small and dark otherwise it wouldn’t have been hidden very well,” John stated. He looked at me with a grin that was only visible because of his luminescent eyes. “Are you afraid?”

“No!” I snapped back, making the other boy snicker. “I was just observing, dip shit. And considering I literally can’t see shit now, I think I have every right to observe what I can.”

“Yup, I totally believe you.”

“It’s the truth!”

“Oh I’m sure it is.”

I grumbled lightly as John’s laughter echoed through the cave.

“Shouldn’t it have opened up by now?” I asked after he had quieted down.

“If it hasn’t then no. Every cave is different Karkat. And this one wants to stay tiny to scare off the faint of heart. Like you!”

“If you don’t cut the shit I’m going to stop feeding you breakfast!”

“Hey! You can’t use breakfast as a threat all the time!” He protested, his pout audible. “It gets old.”

“Once I find something else that works, I’ll use it,” I said. “For now, this is all I got.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But I still don’t appreciate it.” We swam in silence for a bit, barely noticing the slight incline of the cave. I opened my mouth to comment only for John to beat me to it. “Hey look, it’s opening up!”

“Thank gog,” I muttered under my breath.

The passage was, in fact, getting wider pretty rapidly now that we were deeper in. It was also getting brighter, much to my delight. Though going from only seeing John’s eyes to seeing mostly shadows wasn’t much of an improvement. But I was going to take what I could get.

It didn’t take long for the passage to open up to the small cavern that it seemed to end in. It was maybe about two arms lengths across with some sort of glowing blue algae lighting up the area.  But it wasn’t the algae that kept my attention, it was the fact that there seemed to be a surface to the water we were currently under.

“Aw sweet. An air pocket!” John exclaimed dragging me up a few feet until our heads popped out with a splash. “Dave and I don’t see very many of these.”

I didn’t say anything as I adjusted to breathing air again. As I coughed lightly, I glanced around, taking in my surroundings. The cavern was a lot bigger from above the water than it was under it. It was still about the same width but the roof was much taller with the glowing algae covering much of the rocks. And while submerged, the passage appeared to stop, but from this vantage point you could see that it actually continued from a platform-like formation that sat just above the water.

“Wow, this place is amazing!” John said, looking as awestruck as I felt. We swam up to the edge of platform like formation. “I wish we could keep exploring. I’d love to know where this one leads.”

“Yeah, too bad. Guess our adventure is over,” I said as I leaned against the platform myself. John started to say something only for him to stop, a thoughtful expression taking over that concerned me.

“Not necessarily,” He said, a grin creeping onto his face. I frowned. “I mean, _I_ can’t keep exploring, but _you_ could.”

“No.”

“Just hear me out.”

“No.”

“It can’t be that much longer-“

“No.”

“-And this cave is awesome so imagine what the end would look like!”

“John?” I said, his head cocking to the side in response. “When I say ‘no’ I actually mean ‘not a chance in fucking hell.’ I’m not exploring the rest of this cave alone.”

“You said no when I asked for your other pop tart yet you’ve given it to me several times now.”

“Which I now regret.”

“Why won’t you continue exploring?” John pouted as he spoke, bottom lip out and everything. I crossed my arms as a means of defense, I wasn’t going to give into that look so easily.

“Well for one, I don’t know what’s on the other side,” I said. “Or even what’s in there. I can’t exactly see in the dark like you seem to.”

“So? That’s kind of the point in exploring! To find to lost and forgotten!”

“So what you’re saying is that your brain might be down there? Because that’s the only explanation for how you could forget that if I leave the water right now I’m not going to have pants!”

“You’re not wrong but-“ He tried to interject, but I wasn’t done.

“We don’t know where that cave goes. Hell it could lead to a public beach for all I know! And if I ended up there without pants I’d get arrested and Kankri would be called at work and then I’d have to explain to him why I was standing on a fucking beach with only a tee-shirt on! Yeah, that’s not exactly a conversation I’d want to have with him. Ever! Hey, are you even listening?!”

John’s eyes had wandered, looking past me with a squinty expression on his face.

“Uh, yeah. Totally listening,” He answered, his thoughts obviously distant.

“No you’re not. You’re just-“

“Hold that thought, will you?” John darted around me before I could finish. I spun around to face him, determined to give him a piece of my mind. I paused when I found him examining a plastic tote I hadn’t noticed before. It was dark and old looking, half covered with the glowing moss which made it blend in with everything else. The thing was perched at the edge of the platform, just within John’s reach.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked. He didn’t answer as he seemed to examine the tote on several sides, squinting at one before trying to rub some of the algae off of it. Once he cleaned off a fist size part of it, he let out an excited whoop before trying to trying to remove the top.

“John,” I called, swimming a little closer to him as I did. “Seriously, what are you doing?”

“Look!” He eyes all but sparkled with excitement as he pointed to the cleaned section on the side of the tote. Underneath the algae was the cancer astrological symbol carved into its side, probably with a pair of scissors judging by how sloppy it was.

“And what does that have to do with anything?” I asked slowly, an eyebrow raised.

“It’s the sigh of the Signless, which means this is an old semi station,” he exclaimed, going back to struggling with the top.

“How about you tell me that again, maybe in English this time.”

“That means there should be towels and clothes in here, as long as they aren’t destroyed or anything.” He glanced at me, most likely picking up the confusion still on my face before continuing to explain from there. “Some Land-dwelling semis leave boxes of stuff for the water-dwelling semis to use if they need to get on land. Like towels and clothes. They mark them with the same symbol so they are easily recognizable. They’re all over the place, though I’ve never seen one in a cave like this before. Maybe this was a secret hiding place for semis years ago! Or like a super-secret semi hub where they could leave the water unnoticed. That would be so cool!”

The tote finally gave up its lid, allowing John to look inside.

“Yes! They’re still good!” He smiled, holding an olive green, short skirt for me to see. “Now you won’t have to explore without pants!”

“What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand? There are only two letters! It can’t be this difficult!”

“But Karkat!”

“I said no!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.
> 
> also, my hand slipped. Had to draw [John in the cave.](https://tblsomedoodles.tumblr.com/post/177932986596/john-in-glowing-algae-cave-yeah-i-wanted-to-try) There was no way around it. Enjoy!


	49. Chapter 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, new chapter! It's not quite as long as the last few but it was the best place to stop.
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoy,
> 
> TBL

I stood on the platform, glaring at my friend as he snickered.

“John,” I said as calmly as possible. “Please explain to me how the hell I’m supposed to explore your stupid cave when these pants are practically up to my chest!”

The merboy was now in full blown hysterics as I held the large pair of black and red windbreaker pants so they wouldn’t fall down around my ankles. Because they most definitely would if left to their own devises.

“You’re not even exaggerating!” he exclaimed before laughing even harder. It echoed around the small cave, making it seem like it was coming from all directions. Needless to say, I wasn’t a big fan.

“For gog’s sake, this is the third pair that doesn’t fit.” I shuffled over to the box, trying not to trip on the excess pant legs as I actively ignored him. “What else is in there?”

“The skirt,” John said once he calmed down enough to speak.

“I’m not wearing the fucking skirt, and you know it!”

“But it’s practical.” John was trying to sound serious, but I could see the smirk he was trying to keep hidden. “I mean, at least then you wouldn’t have to take it off again before swimming.”

“What else is in there?”

“Just the skirt and what looks like a blanket with a hood,” John stated. He shuffled through the box for a moment before pulling out a light brown piece of fabric. “See? I think it’s a weird cloak thing. You can try that if you don’t want the skirt.”

“I don’t know…” I said slowly. “That’s still weird looking. Almost like a dress. Which is just as bad as a skirt.”

John gave me a stern look.

“Karkat, it’s either the cloak thing or the jeans with the hole in the butt. They at least had a belt.”

“Fine, give me the weird cloak thing,” I said, snatching it out of his hands before he could officially offer it to me.

I fought with the fabric for almost a minute as I tried to figure out which end was up without losing the pants. When I finally got it on correctly, I found that while one side had an armhole, the other was left completely open from the shoulder down. Which would have been quite awkward had I not been wearing the large pants underneath.

I grumbled, grabbing the belt from the previously discarded jeans and attaching it in such a way that it would keep the slit on the side closed. Only when I deemed it safe did I drop the windbreaker pants and step out of them.

“I feel like a monk crossed with a sexy anime character,” I said flatly. John, on the other hand, looked ecstatic.

“You look like Signless! At least with the cloak. Dirk said he used to wear one just like that.” John clapped happily, his eyes sparkling like he just met his childhood hero. “I didn’t notice until you were wearing it but it really looks like his cloak. It has the weird red stitches on the hood and everything!”

“Ok, seriously. Who is this Signless freak? You’ve mentioned him twice now. He’s a person, right?”

“Yeah, he was a semi!” John looked excited to continue, but stopped himself before he could. “On second thought, I’ll tell you when you get back. It’s a long story.”

“But you brought it up.”

“And I’ll bring it up again when you get back,” he said, his arms crossed firmly. “You’re not getting out of that adventure just by asking me about the Signless.”

“Better be one hell of a story.”

“It is! Promise!”

“I have no idea how you convinced me to do this.” I walked backwards towards the cave, shaking a finger at him. He rolled his eyes. “None!”

“Make sure to study everything!” He called back. I turned to face the cave, shooting a small, patronizing wave over my shoulder. “And don’t leave a single stone unturned! It’s important to check everywhere!”

“I got it! It’s like you think I’ve never explored before.” I rolled my eyes as I entered the cave.

“But you don’t!’

I almost turned back to give him a piece of my mind, but decided against it. The sooner I found the end of this tunnel, the sooner this whole thing would be over.

Inside the tunnel got dark very quickly. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the pitch black one that led to the algae cave, but I couldn’t exactly make out the walls very well either. Though it was about twice the width, and height, of the last one so that probably had something to do with it. I dragged my hand across one of the sides in order to keep me situated.

I walked for what seemed like an eternity before I paused, surprised to find brick under my fingertips instead of the rugged rock wall that I felt up until now. I eyed it carefully, just to be sure, and even in the low lighting, I could tell it was man-made, with the bricks being closer to concrete cinderblocks than the regular red ones.

Alarm bells were ringing overtime in my head. This was a human made structure. So why the hell was it connected to a secret merfolk one? Even with John’s speculations about this being a Semi hide out, that doesn’t explain why the natural cave would suddenly turn into an unnatural one.

As cautious as possible, I continued forward, my eyes darting back and forth in a vain attempt to keep watch. In fact, I was so focused on looking for something suspicious, I ran head first into a dead end. Rubbing my sore nose as I cursed quietly, hoping John couldn’t hear it. Once the stinging subsided, I leaned close to examine the sudden end to the tunnel.

Just like the adjacent walls, it was made mostly out of concrete bricks, the only difference being a large indentation on the left side of the blockade. It was a perfectly square, coming up to about my shoulders from where it started at floor level. Upon examining it further, I noticed it was actually a small door.

I sighed, knowing John would not be happy until I saw what was on the other side. I could practically see his pout now. I wouldn’t win against it, that’s for damn sure.

“I’m definitely getting arrested for this,” I muttered to myself, eyeing the door a little longer. “This is breaking and entering, I’m sure of it.”

Mentally kissing my lack of criminal record goodbye, I pushed the door open and all but crawled into the next room.

It was just as dark as the tunnel, with only darker patches of walls showing me where there might be something propped against it. I could just make out what looked to be a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. I flailed around looking for the light switch, running into several different objects before finally finding the string to pull.

I shielded my eyes as the small room was bathed in a bright light. Once my eyes adjusted to it, I could only stare. I knew this room. Not very well, mind you, I’ve only been here once before. But it was definitely the same room, from the concrete walls and floor, to the several tote bins stacked around the small area. There was even a loose brick to the left of the disguised door that was sporting a small, sloppy ‘K’ in its top, right hand corner. There was really no mistaking it for anything other than what it was. My dad’s old safe room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.


	50. Chapter 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! It's Chapter 50 y'all! I can't believe I've kept this going for so long! With a word count of almost 70,000 words this is now my second longest fic to date (the longest one is one that shouldn't exist. and doesn't on AO3. Thank gog! I'll be passing that once I get to a 100,000.)
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me through all the weird updating schedules and short-ish chapters. You guys are amazing!
> 
> On a different note, this chapter wasn't going to come out today but between last night and tonight i somehow wrote most of the chapter. Tho a lot of it is exposition via John so it might not be the most interesting chapter to date. (I also didn't exactly edit the last 500 words or so because i finished it 5 minutes ago. you have been warned.)
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoy regardless,
> 
> TBL

“You’re joking, right?” John asked, eyeing me skeptically. I was sitting on the ledge, still in the weird ‘signless cloak’, as I filled him in on what had been at the end of the tunnel. “Because I’m not sure I believe you.”

“Well you’re not the only one, I can hardly believe this myself. But it’s true. This stupid cave of yours leads right into my parent’s bedroom.” I waved towards the land part of the tunnel dismissively. “I mean, not directly into their room. More like into a small, secret room right under their room. From their side the door was disguised as just part of the wall.

“Still sounds kind of fishy to me.”

“This coming from a fish man.”

John stuck his tongue out at me to which I responded with a middle finger. He laughed until a thought seemed to strike him.

“You know, you could be a second-generation Semi. That would be pretty cool.”

“How is that any different than a regular one?”

“It’s not very different, it just means that instead of having one pure merfolk and one pure human as your parents, you’d have had two semis.”

“And what does that have to do with anything?” I leaned on my fist, raising an eyebrow at John.

“Not much, really. It would just make sense,” John said with a shrug. “I mean why would a landlocked Merfolk and a human need a secret tunnel _and_ a semi station under their house?”

“But wouldn’t it be a little odd having two semis so close to each other? I was under the impression that they were pretty rare.”

“Well, not really. At least not around here. Maybe in other places but this town is basically Semi-central,” John said. I stared at him blankly for a while before he continued. “I mean, that’s what Dirk calls it. The Condesce’s castle is only like ten miles out from here so a lot of merfolk live nearby or pass through to meet her. And with that many merfolk near a land town, it does lead to a fair share of semis being born.”

“So you’re telling me that I’m not the only semi in town?”

“Oh definitely not.”

I was quite for a moment, trying to let my brain process what it had heard. I wasn’t the only one. There were others like me. I…didn’t know what to think about that honestly. I’ve been being very careful making sure no one noticed there was something different about me. Wearing high collared shirts to hide my gills until they closed properly. Convincing Kankri to get me out of swimming in gym. All because I was under the assumption that if anyone noticed any of this, they would know and I’d be revealing the merfolk world to the human one. But, apparently, not only was that kind of irrational of me, but there were already people that knew about it. And were in the same boat as me?

It felt kind of good that I wasn’t the only one going through all this. But then again, it would have been nice of one of those hidden semis had saw the high collared shirts and shit and was like ‘hey, that’s familiar. Maybe I should help that fucker out?’ Then again, who even were these other semis?

“ARRG!” I groaned, burying my face into my hands in frustration. “I don’t want to deal with this right now.”

“Alright!” John said, perky as ever. “How bout we practice swimming while I tell you about Signless? That way I can keep both my promises at once.”

“Yeah, sure.” I muttered, sliding my hands down my face, before dropping them at my sides. “Anything to get my mind off fucking ‘semi-central’.”

I had barely finished talking when John’s hand shot up, grabbed mine, and proceeded to drag me into the water with a splash.

“You ass!” I exclaimed once I had adjusted to being underwater again. “I didn’t need your fucking help!”

“But it was fun,” he teased, swimming a small victory loop before grabbing my hand again and starting off down the underwater tunnel.

“Hey! I’m still wearing the cloak, dumb ass,” I said, struggling for a moment as I tried to get my fin to work in time with his. I did not need to be towed down the entire tunnel, thank you very much.

“So? You’ll just want it again when you get out. You might as well keep it on.” John looked back at me with a grin, his eyes more prominent the darker the tunnel got. “Plus, now you really look like Signless.”

“Explain. Now,” I all but groaned. He giggled, turning forward once again.

“Signless was a pretty well-known semi that spoke out against the Condesce a lot,” John said, his voice taking on a very matter of fact tone. “He wore a cloak just like that to help hide his identity since she wasn’t really keen on rebels or protesters. But he had a bright red tail, like yours, which is why we know he’s a semi.”

“How’s that?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“Only semis can have red tails. It’s kind of a mutant trait, I think. Most semis get their tail color from their merfolk parent, or sometimes grandparent. But with red tails, they get their tail color from their blood, like a regular merfolk.”

“And because they always have red blood, they end up with a red tail. Right?”

“Yep!” John said, happily swimming through the tunnel like it wasn’t pitch black. I let him navigate, instead focusing on his psudo lecture. “So he was a semi, and probably a land-dweller too, since he would disappear after his protests without much of a trace.”

“What was he protesting anyways? Too much seaweed?”

“No, that’s just silly.” I could all but hear his eyeroll in the darkness. “It was more serious of a problem than that. Still is.”

“Which is?”

“Well, it’s a little hard to explain,” John said, sounding a lot more serious. “You know how I told you about the hemospectrum?”

“Where everyone was given a job based on their tail color? Yeah I remember that stupidity.”

“When the Condesce first came to power she began enforcing it more than it had before. And because red tails are a semi thing, there wasn’t a place for them in the hemospectrum, so she made one.”  By now we had reached the end of the tunnel, allowing me to see the serious expression on his face. It didn’t seem right. “The jobs she gave them were the lowest of the low, things like unskilled labor and servitude. Basically everything no one else wanted to do.”

“So she made them all slaves,” I said. John looked back at me in surprise, but continued on regardless.

“That’s one word for it, I guess,” he relented. “But she didn’t stop there. She started making it sound like a good thing. That she was giving this ‘spectrum-less group’ a place in the merfolk world out of the kindness of her heart. And the scary thing is, a lot of people believed her.

“After that she started a campaign to ‘insure everyone was in their rightful class.’ Which is just a nice way of saying finding the semis with different colored tails and putting them in the same class as the red tails. And because they could sometimes pass as a full merfolk if they wanted, she made all semis wear symbols to help identify themselves. It’s basically a horizontal oval with a circle wedged into either side. Like Signless’s except if it were attached.”

“The more you talk the more I see her as a type of Sea Hitler.”

“A what?” John asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Never mind, just keep going.”

“Alright,” He said slowly. He continued to lead me through the water at a leisurely pace, occasionally making turns for no reason other than for me to practice. “Anyways, it was after that that people started disappearing. Mostly semis who refused to wear the symbol or those who actively spoke out against her. They would be there one day and then would just be gone the next. No hint left of what happened or where they could have gone. It made people afraid to speak out against her, since they didn’t want to be the next abandoned living residence to be found.

“That is until the Signless showed up. They called him that because he made it a point never to wear the symbol, even going so far as to rip it in half at one of his rallies. That kind of lead to him getting a symbol of his own, which was just the Condesce’s semi symbol but broken.”

“Thus the so-called ‘signess’ got a sign,” I commented. John chuckled, leading me in a small loop around one of the dock legs before continuing on.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he said, looking much more normal with a smile on his face. Even if it was a small one. “But he was great! He spoke out against her, shedding light on what she was trying to hide. He amassed followers that would listen to him and spread the word about what was wrong with her rules. At the highest point, so many people were hearing and believing his words that he may have been able to overturn her rule, getting rid of the red tail class altogether. And without ever turning to violence!”

“So, what happened to him?” I asked. The excitement that he had built up through that last little bit of story faded from his face too quickly for me to track. The sparkle in his eyes gone before I could even think to take back my question.

“We’re not exactly sure. He was supposed to show up for a rally but never did,” John stated. “That was about twelve or thirteen years ago. Over the next year his closest followers, those few that were rumored to know his real name, starting disappearing too. I’m not sure if they just stopped coming to the water or if something happened to them. The only one that was ever found was an older human that would attend some of the surface meetings. But she was already dead, drowned at the bottom of the sea.”

“That was the Condesce’s doing, I take it?”

“Most likely. A group of his followers broke into her personal prison to see if they could find him. The few that made it out brought back with them cloak that looked like his. It was badly ripped and bloodied with the semi symbol burned into it’s back.” John stopped, taking a troubled breath before speaking again. “After that, people started calling him the Sufferer because if that cloak had meant anything, it meant that he had been there. And that she had made him suffer for what he tried to do.”

“But you still call him the Signless.”

“Well yeah.” John smiled a bit, as he looked back at me. “Because people shouldn’t be known for the bad stuff that happened _to_ them. They should be known for the good stuff they were _trying_ to do.”

I blinked a few times, stunned by his thought process.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said, the corners of my own mouth turning up almost on their own accord. “For once.”

“For once?!”

“It’s a rare occurrence.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://tblsomestories.tumblr.com/) in you feel like checking it out.
> 
> -Also, the image of the day of things that won't be canonical but I almost wish it would be....Karkat outing all the land-dwelling semis with a dog whistle. XD


End file.
